Hitachi iQ is a new set of industry-specific AI systems using Nvidia DGX and HGX GPUs and Hitachi Vantara storage.
Hitachi Vantara is reshaping itself with a renewed focus on storage and data infrastructure focus under CEO Sheila Rohra and a refreshed exec team. This includes ex-NetApp SVP Cloud Engineering Octavian Tanese, who is now Hitachi Vantara’s chief product officer. Hitachi iQ is being announced at Nvidia’s GTC event in San Jose, CA, this week.
Rohra said: “As part of the Hitachi family, we have strong expertise in multiple industrial market segments including energy, transportation, and manufacturing, which makes it possible to accelerate digital transformation powered by AI.”
Hitachi iQ will have various consumption schemes and its first AI framework offering will arrive between Apirl and June. Features include:
- Nvidia BasePOD certification
- High-end Nvidia HGX GPU server offering
- Mid-range PCIe architecture system with Nvidia H100 and L40S GPUs
- Nvidia AI Enterprise software support
- Gen 5 Hitachi Content Software for File (HCFS) release with accelerated storage nodes for AI workloads
HCFS is WekaIO’s rebranded WekaFS file system software (Weka Data Platform). It is a POSIX-compliant file system integrated with Hitachi Vantara’s object storage. Data in HCFS can be accessed through NFS, SMB, and POSIX stored in PCIe gen 4 NVMe SSDs or via S3-accessed objects in a secondary storage tier. HCFS supports Nvidia’s GPUDirect storage protocol that bypasses the storage server’s CPU and memory and sends data from the NVMe drives direct to the GPU’s memory using RDMA. It can run on-premises or in the public cloud.
Charlie Boyle, DGX platform VP at Nvidia, said: “Enterprises across industries are building AI factories to turn their data into intelligence. With solutions built with Nvidia DGX infrastructure and software, Hitachi Vantara customers will be able to create AI Centers of Excellence to turbocharge their generative AI strategies.”
Dell is also using the AI factory term in connection with its Nvidia-based hardware releases.
