The Silverlinings editorial team recently announced the finalists for our first-ever Cloud Innovation Awards. But who are the cream of the crop and why have they wound up at the top? Read more about our Best Cloud Data Center Solutions finalists below and you'll know why they made the cut.
Before you read on, just a reminder that the Silverlinings editorial team will announce the Cloud Innovation Awards winners on December 7 at the Cloud Executive Summit, set for the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa in Sonoma, Ca. Join us for the ceremony and also the full event. Register today and use code LIZ200 for $200 off a conference pass! (Liz is our Managing Editor and Chief Balloonatic, in case you don't know.)
And now, onto the finalists.
Here’s what you need to know about each Cloud Data Center Solution finalist:
- Amdocs, Amdocs Executable Cloud-Native Blueprints-In-A-Box (NASDAQ: DOX): This entry from Amdocs is exactly what it sounds like. The Blueprints-In-A-Box solution comprises executable jump-start kits of code and specific sets of standards, patterns and governance rules to implement various cloud services, designs, security and more. These can be used to speed the rollout of cloud-native architectures, applications and pipelines for data centers. The kits also include Json files to deploy DevOps pipelines for continuous integration & continuous deployment (CI/CD).
The Terraform-based reference architecture and blueprint can be used with any hyperscaler cloud platform thanks to the use of agnostic connectors/built-in compliance tools. Amdocs said only 20-25% customization is required to bring new services to life.The biggest benefit? Implementation can be achieved in months rather than years, Amdocs said.
- DriveNets, Network Cloud-AI: Though its name might make it seem like this solution belongs in our AI category, this entry is right where it should be. Drivenets’ Network Cloud-AI is actually an Ethernet-based product which provides frontend and backend connectivity within data centers for AI clusters.
Network Cloud-AI updates the traditional Ethernet model with a version of the Open Compute Project’s Distributed Disaggregated Chassis (DDC) routing system to deliver a 10% to 30% improvement in job time completion. And it does so with a GPU-, ASIC-, ODM- and optical- agnostic architecture.In its entry, DriveNets argued Network Cloud-AI’s scheduled fabric, scalability up to 32,000 GPUs, architectural flexibility, diverse application support, open architecture and seamless failure mitigation position it as a market leader.
- Marvell, Marvell Nova 1.6 Tbps PAM4 electro-optics platform (NASDAQ: MRVL): The big thing to know about Marvell’s entry is that the company claims its platform doubles the optical bandwidth of current 800G solutions to deliver 1.6 Tbps. Why does that matter? Well, the idea is to help alleviate data center network bottlenecks as AI and other high-performance workloads rise to prominence.
According to the company it manages to do this while reducing power and cost per bit by 30% and cutting down on the required number of lasers and related optical components by 50%.
Marvell also touted its open ecosystem street cred in its entry: “Nova extends the multi-source pluggable optics ecosystem, offering data center operators flexibility, supply chain elasticity, and predictable network deployments through established system integration processes.”
- Vertiv, Vertiv Liebert XDU (NYSE: VRT): Vertiv came at the data center category from a slightly different angle, submitting its direct-to-chip liquid cooling Liebert XDU solution. In a world where data center rack densities (and thus heat loads) are increasing, cooling has taken on a new level of importance.
According to Vertiv, its liquid-to-liquid coolant distribution system circulates fluid through liquid-cooled server racks and rejects the heat from the returning warm water. The system uses a closed secondary fluid network loop to minimize any waste and the warm fluid can be used in waste heat recovery systems to help improve sustainability.Cool!
Check out additional content about the Cloud Innovation Awards here:
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Silverlinings Cloud Innovation Awards: Top Changemaker finalists revealed!
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Cloud Innovation Awards Sustainability Solution finalists: Cisco, VMware, Iron Mountain
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Cloud Innovation Awards: Automation Solution finalists: Microsoft, IBM, Itential, Console Connect
Don't forget! Register today for the Cloud Innovation Summit and use code LIZ200 for $200 off a conference pass!