Co-design is emerging as the predominant model for the development of next-generation intelligent infrastructure. Why now? Because with the emergence of new AI-infused applications, the proliferation of new choices for hardware components, and a software stack that grows taller and more flexible, the complexity of architecting and implementing the optimal solution requires a co-design approach.
Co-design is a methodology driven by engineering-led collaboration and a shared mission, well-known in the high-performance computing (HPC) market. It serves as an effective approach, bringing together diverse expertise and technologies to tackle complex missions successfully.
Today, the scale and breadth of intelligent digital infrastructure makes co-design the preferred way to bring best of breed solutions to production cost-effectively, from device to datacenter. For over three decades, SourceCode has built expertise, offerings, and, crucially, a business model that are optimized for co-design.
What is Hardware Co-Design?
Hardware co-design refers to a collaborative process where a vendor and its partners join forces with a customer to design and develop an integrated best of breed solution that precisely meets the customer’s business requirements and can evolve seamlessly into the future. This grand partnership identifies the wide range of technologies and expertise that is needed across the whole solution stack, leverages the expertise and resources of all participants, and brings alignment to all the pieces.
The collaborative nature of co-design also incorporates requirements such as data privacy, compliance, and certification from the early design stage, and enables seamless integration in the final solution.
Why Co-Design for Next-Generation Intelligent Infrastructure?
The importance of co-design in today’s digital landscape is a direct result of several technology trends:
- Proliferation of technological choices. Post Moore’s Law, the way to get performance from semiconductors is via architectural optimization, instead of higher frequencies. This has led to a proliferation of chips, each designed to excel at specific tasks. Visible examples of this trend include GPUs, DPUs, FPGAs, and a variety of AI chips optimized for learning or inference for different applications and environments.
- Device-to-datacenter technology scope. Digital infrastructure is increasingly spanning the entire enterprise data fabric, from device to datacenter. Building a seamless solution in such cases requires both a broad and deep range of expertise.
- AI is ubiquitous. The business imperative to incorporate and leverage the power of machine learning and AI systems necessitates customization, optimization, and certification, to ensure the infrastructure delivers good OpEx and ROI for its target applications and workflow and across different geographies.
The ability to tailor, configure, and customize hardware is crucial for unlocking the full potential of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), edge computing, quantum, the Internet of Things (IoT), and more.
The Benefits of Co-Design
There are many reasons that customers turn to an engineering-led, co-design engagement model for their datacenter infrastructure needs:
- Accelerate Time-to-Market. By working collaboratively with a co-design hardware vendor, you can significantly reduce design and development time, enabling faster time-to-market for innovative solutions.
- Mitigate Technical Risk. Co-design allows for the identification and mitigation of technical risks early in the development process, ensuring a smoother and more reliable end product.
- Optimize Design Constraints. Co-design optimizes various design constraints, including cost, performance, scale, and power consumption, leading to more efficient and economical solutions. You can also customize further with ruggedization, certifications, or density/cooling modifications.
- Leverage Rapidly Evolving Technologies. With expertise across a variety of technologies, a co-design vendor can help you navigate the complexities of cutting-edge technologies such as AI, robotics, cloud, IoT, quantum and more—providing insights and guidance throughout the co-design process (and eliminating the need to build specialized expertise in-house).
Real-World Example: Stratolaunch
Co-design has proven to be highly successful in various industries. One notable example is a co-design project between SourceCode and Stratolaunch for the in-flight, separation testing of Stratolaunch’s hypersonic Talon-A vehicle.
SourceCode worked with Stratolaunch to design a cluster used for CFD simulation and hypersonic testing, which has proven to be highly effective for the team’s needs. In addition, this was moved from the cloud to on-prem for improved economics, security, and flexibility.
Benefits of Partnering with SourceCode for Co-design
SourceCode provides exceptional expertise and support for your co-design projects. By partnering with us, you gain access to the following benefits:
- Depth and Breadth of Expertise. SourceCode boasts expert knowledge across a wide breadth of leading-edge technologies, ensuring comprehensive solutions—from device to datacenter — for diverse needs.
- Vendor Agnostic. SourceCode has built a strong network of industry-leading technology partners. Being vendor-agnostic, SourceCode provides the flexibility to choose the best hardware and software components for a given project.
- Efficiency and Cost Savings. The streamlined co-design process employed by SourceCode results in enhanced efficiency and significant cost savings for customers.
- Building Blocks Simplify Co-Design. SourceCode is also a leading distributor of customizable systems and storage solutions and these “building blocks” speed and simplify the co-design process and help reduce cost.
- Testing and Manufacturing. SourceCode builds key testing processes into its manufacturing processes and can help you attain relevant certifications. SourceCode maintains an in-house, U.S.-based environmental testing laboratory.
Conclusion
Co-design is paving the way for the next generation of intelligent infrastructure solutions. By leveraging the benefits of co-design, you can mitigate technical risks, optimize design constraints, and accelerate your time-to-market. Partnering with SourceCode ensures access to expert support, a vendor-agnostic approach, and cost-effective solutions.
Join us at the NVIDIA GTC in San Jose, CA (March 18-21) to explore new exascale-class systems and discover our field-proven AI, High Performance Computing (HPC), and Quantum solutions. Learn how co-design is driving innovation in diverse applications, from storm chasing to combat-proven AI inference.
Visit us at booth #1626 to meet our team and participate in our daily raffle. Transform your ideas into products – explore www.sourcecode.com or speak with one of our Solution Architects today at [email protected]
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