Pure Storage has announced its membership in the Ultra Ethernet Consortium (UEC), a Linux Foundation initiative aimed at building an open and accessible Ethernet-based architecture designed to accelerate AI and high-performance computing (HPC) applications.
The consortium seeks to enhance Ethernet technology for large-scale AI and HPC initiatives.
This collaboration marks a significant commitment from Pure Storage to define and integrate UEC technology standards. According to the company, this move will help streamline the performance for enterprise AI and HPC workloads using Ethernet. The firm aims to support rapid innovation and faster time to market within the sector.
Commenting on the industry significance of this collaboration, Pure Storage highlighted the challenges enterprises face in managing and scaling existing network solutions. The current systems often hinder flexibility and efficiency, which is crucial for growing AI workloads. The UEC aims to mitigate these challenges by advancing Ethernet technology to provide a scalable and efficient solution to support AI innovation.
Ethernet has seen increased adoption in data centres due to its lower total cost of ownership, extensive interoperability, and proven reliability. New Ultra Ethernet standards are expected to allow enterprises to maximise their AI and HPC investments, deploying performance-intensive applications to drive innovation, boost productivity, and enhance operational efficiency.
Speaking on the matter, Maciej Kranz, General Manager, Enterprise at Pure Storage, said, "Since its inception, Pure Storage has committed to delivering flexible, reliable, and high-performance data storage technologies and services to simplify the enterprise data experience. Joining the UEC provides Pure with the opportunity to work alongside leaders in compute, networking, and storage to drive the development of a new ultra-Ethernet architecture for the most advanced AI and HPC workloads."
Hugh Holbrook, Chief Development Officer at Arista Networks, expressed his support for the initiative. "The UEC is a leader in driving the evolution of Ethernet technologies, accelerating innovation and setting new benchmarks for performance, reliability, and scalability in networking. As a member of the steering committee, Arista strongly supports the UEC, and Arista is excited to have Pure Storage's deep data storage expertise, in collaboration with other industry leaders, to advance Ethernet standards and ultimately empower organisations to meet the ever-growing demands of AI and HPC," he said.
Ram Velaga, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Core Switching Group at Broadcom, also welcomed Pure Storage to the consortium. "Ethernet stands as the leading networking technology for AI due to its unmatched performance and scalability. UEC has emerged as a unifying force, bringing together industry leaders to evolve Ethernet technology for the next generation of AI and HPC. Given the critical role of data storage and protection in a comprehensive AI solution, we are thrilled to see Pure Storage join the consortium, bringing their valuable expertise in these essential areas," Velaga noted.
Dorin Vanderjack, Vice President and General Manager of U.S. OEM and Strategic Accounts at Intel, lauded Pure Storage's decision to join UEC. "Intel strongly believes in an open ecosystem-driven approach. Intel is working with its ecosystem partners and customers to adapt Ethernet for highly scalable AI/HPC fabrics. We are excited to see our valued, long-time partner Pure Storage joining the UEC and looking forward to continuing to work together on joint solutions driving AI everywhere," said Vanderjack.
The membership in UEC will enable Pure Storage to accelerate platform development that aligns with UEC standards. As a result, enterprises are expected to benefit from faster compute, network, and link speeds, as well as lower latency and higher network utilization. This will ultimately provide cost-effective, high-performance AI and HPC networking and storage solutions built on Ethernet-based switches and storage.
