2020 Showcase
2020 Next-Gen Infrastructure Acceleration and SmartNICs Report
The 2020 Next-Gen Infrastructure Acceleration and SmartNICs Report discusses infrastructure acceleration technologies adopted by CSPs and cloud providers and explores the offerings from leading vendors.
Sponsor Spotlight 21K Consulting
Evaluating Infrastructure Acceleration Technologies
Charlie Ashton, President at 21K Consulting, talks about evaluating accelerated networking technologies from a carrier perspective and how AvidThink's 2020 Infrastructure Acceleration Report was compiled. Ashton also draws on his past experience as Director of Business Development at Wind River and Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at 6WIND, an early entrant in the infrastructure acceleration space.
Sponsor Spotlight Dell'Oro
Analyzing the SmartNIC Opportunity
In just a few short years, the market for SmartNICs reached $200 million in sales in 2019. Baron Fung, Research Director at Dell'Oro Group, expects this segment to triple over the next five years. Fung provides a definition of the Infrastructure Acceleration segment (SmartNICs), talks about early adopters and use cases, introduces the major vendors, and offers commentary on the factors that will lead players to success.
Sponsor Spotlight Digital Realty
Data Center Operators are Looking for Infrastructure Acceleration
Whether you are a hyperscale cloud provider or an enterprise looking to consolidate facilities as part of a Digital Transformation, the new mandate is to find better ways to manage workloads while moving data closer to the end user. Scott Mills, Global Vice President for Solutions Engineering at Digital Realty, talks about the design challenges facing data center architects.
Sponsor Spotlight Evoque
Migrating Workloads and Continued Transformation in the Data Center
Andy Stewart, CEO of Evoque, talks about the advances made since they spun out of AT&T in 2018 and the continued transformation to expect in the future: professional services to help customers around cost optimization and their digital transformation efforts; managed services (such as security, hosted private cloud, private cloud, etc.); and expanding into additional markets.
Sponsor Spotlight Fungible
Scaling-out Data Centers with the Fungible Data Processing Unit (Fungible DPU™)
Fungible was founded in 2015 to revolutionize the performance, economics, reliability, and security of scale-out data centers. In this video, Pradeep Sindhu, Co-Founder and CEO of Fungible, shares observations about scale-out data centers and the key innovations of Fungible’s Data Processing Unit (Fungible DPU™) which has been positioned as the “third socket” in data centers, complementing the CPU and GPU.
Sponsor Spotlight NVIDIA
Innovative Ways to Accelerate Public and Private Cloud Infrastructure
Customers deploying cloud infrastructure run into performance issues in four key areas: virtualization, SDN, storage, and security. In this video, Ash Bhalgat, Senior Director of Cloud & Telco Market Development at NVIDIA’s Networking Business Unit, explains how to achieve maximum cloud infrastructure efficiency without sacrificing performance by using NVIDIA’s Mellanox Networking products and open-source software tools.
Sponsor Spotlight Pensando Systems
Introducing Pensando Systems
Prem Jain, CEO, and Soni Jiandani, Chief Business Officer of Pensando Systems, discuss Pensando's unique solution architecture. Pensando's acceleration solution provides improved performance, security, and visibility for heavy networking and storage workloads. Pensando solutions marry the flexibility of Arm processors with an accelerated P4-programmable data path that offers encryption, decryption, TCP termination, as well as NVMe acceleration.
Sponsor Spotlight Pensando Systems
VMware's Project Monterey for SmartNICs - Pensando's Perspective
Pensando Systems is working with VMware on Project Monterey to integrate the next generation of SmartNIC technology into fully virtualized enterprise networks. In this video, Silvano Gai of Pensando Systems talks about Project Monterey and the benefits for customers, including performance, scale, and features such as firewalling, micro-segmentation, encryption, telemetry, and more.
Sponsor Spotlight Pensando Systems
Are Next-gen SmartNICs Gaining Traction with Top Cloud Providers?
In this video, Prem Jain, co-founder and CEO of Pensando, discusses SmartNIC adoption trends by major cloud providers. Hot topics include bare-metal-as-a-service acceleration and virtualized storage. Download the Infrastructure Acceleration Report to explore technologies being adopted by CSPs
Sponsor Spotlight Vapor IO
Accelerating Data Center Operations
Enterprise services generate new types of workloads with increasingly stringent latency and data gravity requirements. Data center operators must find new ways to deliver infrastructure acceleration. Cole Crawford, CEO of Vapor IO, talks about automating many of the tasks needed to accelerate data center operations.
Courtesy of our sponsors!
Complimentary Report Download
2020 SmartNICs
No personal info needed to download
Analysis by AvidThink
What the 2020 report finds
Across these interviews a single shift dominates: offloading networking, storage, and security from the CPU onto programmable acceleration hardware. SmartNICs and DPUs emerge as the way to keep scale-out data centers fast, efficient, and secure as workloads move closer to the end user.
The DPU becomes the third socket
Fungible positions its Data Processing Unit as the data center's third socket beside the CPU and GPU, while Pensando marries Arm processors with a P4-programmable data path for encryption, TCP termination, and NVMe acceleration.
The SmartNIC market takes off
Dell'Oro's Baron Fung pegs SmartNIC sales at $200 million in 2019 and expects the segment to triple within five years, with Pensando reporting adoption momentum among major cloud providers.
Offloading the CPU's burden
NVIDIA's Ash Bhalgat targets four cloud pain points -- virtualization, SDN, storage, and security -- using Mellanox networking products and open-source tools to boost efficiency without sacrificing performance.
SmartNICs reach enterprise virtualization
Pensando's work with VMware on Project Monterey embeds next-generation SmartNICs in fully virtualized enterprise networks, adding firewalling, micro-segmentation, encryption, and telemetry.
Data center operators feel the pressure
Digital Realty and Vapor IO cite tightening latency and data-gravity demands, pushing operators toward automation and moving data closer to users, as Evoque expands managed and professional services.
Highlights from industry thought leaders
Video interviews
Evaluating Infrastructure Acceleration Technologies
- Charlie Ashton of 21K Consulting evaluates accelerated networking technologies from a carrier perspective and frames how the 2020 report was compiled.
- He draws on prior roles at Wind River and at 6WIND, an early entrant in the infrastructure acceleration space.
Abstract
Charlie Ashton, President at 21K Consulting, talks about evaluating accelerated networking technologies from a carrier perspective and how AvidThink's 2020 Infrastructure Acceleration Report was compiled. Ashton also draws on his past experience as Director of Business Development at Wind River and Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at 6WIND, an early entrant in the infrastructure acceleration space.
Analyzing the SmartNIC Opportunity
- SmartNIC sales reached $200 million in 2019, a market Dell'Oro's Baron Fung expects to triple over the next five years.
- Fung defines the infrastructure acceleration segment and profiles early adopters, use cases, and the major vendors.
Abstract
In just a few short years, the market for SmartNICs reached $200 million in sales in 2019. Baron Fung, Research Director at Dell'Oro Group, expects this segment to triple over the next five years. Fung provides a definition of the Infrastructure Acceleration segment (SmartNICs), talks about early adopters and use cases, introduces the major vendors, and offers commentary on the factors that will lead players to success.
Data Center Operators are Looking for Infrastructure Acceleration
- Digital Realty's Scott Mills says the new mandate is moving data closer to end users while better managing workloads.
- He outlines the design challenges facing data center architects across hyperscale and enterprise consolidation.
Abstract
Whether you are a hyperscale cloud provider or an enterprise looking to consolidate facilities as part of a Digital Transformation, the new mandate is to find better ways to manage workloads while moving data closer to the end user. Scott Mills, Global Vice President for Solutions Engineering at Digital Realty, talks about the design challenges facing data center architects.
Migrating Workloads and Continued Transformation in the Data Center
- Evoque CEO Andy Stewart recaps progress since the company spun out of AT&T in 2018.
- He points to professional services for cost optimization, managed services like security and hosted private cloud, and expansion into new markets.
Abstract
Andy Stewart, CEO of Evoque, talks about the advances made since they spun out of AT&T in 2018 and the continued transformation to expect in the future: professional services to help customers around cost optimization and their digital transformation efforts; managed services (such as security, hosted private cloud, private cloud, etc.); and expanding into additional markets.
Scaling-out Data Centers with the Fungible Data Processing Unit (Fungible DPU™)
- Fungible, founded in 2015, positions its Data Processing Unit as the data center's third socket alongside the CPU and GPU.
- CEO Pradeep Sindhu ties the DPU to better performance, economics, reliability, and security in scale-out data centers.
Abstract
Fungible was founded in 2015 to revolutionize the performance, economics, reliability, and security of scale-out data centers. In this video, Pradeep Sindhu, Co-Founder and CEO of Fungible, shares observations about scale-out data centers and the key innovations of Fungible’s Data Processing Unit (Fungible DPU™) which has been positioned as the “third socket” in data centers, complementing the CPU and GPU.
Innovative Ways to Accelerate Public and Private Cloud Infrastructure
- NVIDIA's Ash Bhalgat identifies four cloud performance pain points: virtualization, SDN, storage, and security.
- He explains achieving maximum efficiency without sacrificing performance using NVIDIA's Mellanox networking products and open-source tools.
Abstract
Customers deploying cloud infrastructure run into performance issues in four key areas: virtualization, SDN, storage, and security. In this video, Ash Bhalgat, Senior Director of Cloud & Telco Market Development at NVIDIA’s Networking Business Unit, explains how to achieve maximum cloud infrastructure efficiency without sacrificing performance by using NVIDIA’s Mellanox Networking products and open-source software tools.
Introducing Pensando Systems
- Pensando marries Arm processors with a P4-programmable data path offering encryption, decryption, TCP termination, and NVMe acceleration.
- Prem Jain and Soni Jiandani position the architecture for performance, security, and visibility across heavy networking and storage workloads.
Abstract
Prem Jain, CEO, and Soni Jiandani, Chief Business Officer of Pensando Systems, discuss Pensando's unique solution architecture. Pensando's acceleration solution provides improved performance, security, and visibility for heavy networking and storage workloads. Pensando solutions marry the flexibility of Arm processors with an accelerated P4-programmable data path that offers encryption, decryption, TCP termination, as well as NVMe acceleration.
VMware's Project Monterey for SmartNICs - Pensando's Perspective
- Pensando's Silvano Gai details Project Monterey with VMware to integrate next-generation SmartNICs into fully virtualized enterprise networks.
- Benefits include firewalling, micro-segmentation, encryption, and telemetry alongside added performance and scale.
Abstract
Pensando Systems is working with VMware on Project Monterey to integrate the next generation of SmartNIC technology into fully virtualized enterprise networks. In this video, Silvano Gai of Pensando Systems talks about Project Monterey and the benefits for customers, including performance, scale, and features such as firewalling, micro-segmentation, encryption, telemetry, and more.
Are Next-gen SmartNICs Gaining Traction with Top Cloud Providers?
- Prem Jain discusses SmartNIC adoption trends among major cloud providers, including bare-metal-as-a-service acceleration.
- Virtualized storage features among the hot use cases driving next-generation SmartNIC traction.
Abstract
In this video, Prem Jain, co-founder and CEO of Pensando, discusses SmartNIC adoption trends by major cloud providers. Hot topics include bare-metal-as-a-service acceleration and virtualized storage. Download the Infrastructure Acceleration Report to explore technologies being adopted by CSPs
Accelerating Data Center Operations
- Vapor IO's Cole Crawford cites stringent latency and data-gravity requirements from new enterprise workloads.
- He focuses on automating data center operations to deliver infrastructure acceleration.
Abstract
Enterprise services generate new types of workloads with increasingly stringent latency and data gravity requirements. Data center operators must find new ways to deliver infrastructure acceleration. Cole Crawford, CEO of Vapor IO, talks about automating many of the tasks needed to accelerate data center operations.
Infrastructure acceleration is critical to ensuring that CSPs and cloud providers can cope with 5G and edge workloads, ongoing security and storage needs, plus AI and ML demands.
Download the Full Report
By downloading this report, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Continue exploring
More executive showcases across next-gen infrastructure.
2025
2025 Marvell Industry Analyst Day
Marvell executives share their vision for accelerated infrastructure and how Marvell's technology portfolio speeds up AI and cloud workloads
2025
2025 OCP Global Summit
Exclusive videos from thought leaders covering data center networking (scale-up, scale-out, scale-across), photonics, liquid cooling, SONiC
2025
2025 AI Infra Summit
Thought leaders discuss using AI, ML, deep learning, and generative AI (GenAI) to manage, automate, scale, and optimize network infrastructure