One of the most unusual applications of edge AI and sensors technology comes from DUG Technology combined with Solidigm NVMe SSDs and Hypertec servers using immersion cooling.
The company has basically put an immersion-cooled data center at the edge in a huge storage container called DUG Nomad for deployment anywhere in the world, allowing high-performance compute directly where the data is collected through a range of sensing technologies.
A 10-foot rack can hold 26 usable racks of computing space, and the container can be transported via helicopter. This makes it weatherproof for locations that cannot be reached with traditional computing and storage, putting geologic analysis and other work within reach of scientists.
The value of the innovation is a tribute to immersion cooling and Hypertec designed servers, but also to Solidigm’s storage prowess—all in service of collecting data with vibration or optical sensing equipment wherever needed for seismic research and analysis or emergency response.
Some units have been in use sucessfully for more than four years, Solidigm officials told reporters on Tuesday on a tour of Sacramento, CA, tech operations. High performance supports AI inferencing with low latency for real-time decision making. By storing more data at the edge, researchers can reduce the need to transmit data to data centers far away. This approach supports compute-intense applications such as computer vision processing, and predictive analysis using real-time sensor data of seismic events. Scientific modeling and simulations can be done directly at the edge. The DUG concept can also be used in emergency response.
Solidigm engineers explained the process to three journalists including Fierce at Solidigm’s headquarters in Rancho Cordova, CA, on a tour of Sacramento semiconductor companies sponsored by the Greater Sacramento Economic Council. Solidigm was formed after SK Hynix bought Intel’s NAND business in 2021. The company has recently produced the world’s highest capacity PCIe with up to 122.88 terabytes of data capacity.
Check back again for more coverage of the Sacramento tour.