Nvidia Aims vSphere-Integrated AI Software Suite at Enterprise Market

The AI leader has designed the software together with VMware to make AI easier for both data scientists and enterprise IT pros.

Wylie Wong, Regular Contributor

August 30, 2021

2 Min Read
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, delivering the GTC 2020 keynote from his kitchen.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, delivering the GTC 2020 keynote from his kitchen.Nvidia

Nvidia, a leader in AI technology, particularly AI hardware and software for data centers and self-diving cars, has now set its sights on the more traditional enterprise data center market.

The recently rolled out Nvidia AI Enterprise is a suite of AI tools and frameworks that is optimized for VMware vSphere virtualization software.

The company also announced that the largest hardware vendors, such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, Lenovo, and Supermicro, are selling mainstream GPU-powered servers optimized to support AI workloads running on vSphere with Nvidia AI Enterprise.

“[It’s] about bringing AI to the mainstream, to mainstream servers and VMware vSphere. So every enterprise customer can take their own internal private cloud, where they have deployed their line of business applications, and accelerate their environment with Nvidia GPUs and add AI functionality to all of those workloads,” said Manuvir Das, Nvidia’s head of enterprise computing, during a press briefing last week.

Analysts say Nvidia’s announcement is important for enterprises that want to begin to take advantage of AI but haven’t yet started. Configuring the hardware and software for AI is complex, but Nvidia is simplifying the process with all the necessary software components, tools, and hardware, said Karl Freund, founder and principal analyst at Cambrian AI Research.

Related:Nvidia and Palo Alto Promise Huge Virtual Firewall Performance Bump with BlueField DPU

“Nvidia is doing enterprises a big favor by building a platform with a user interface and all the tools you need to get started with AI,” Freund told DCK in an interview. “It opens the door for enterprises to start and to get serious about AI.”

Das said Nvidia’s enterprise software push is not a side project. “We think there is a significant opportunity here that is separate from the hardware,” he said.

Part of the announcement was a mention that dozens of automotive, education, finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and technology enterprises had been early adopters of Nvidia AI Enterprise software.

The software suite provides data scientists all the tools and frameworks they need to develop and deploy AI workloads, he said, describing the suite as “the nuts-and-bolts operating system for AI.”

Meanwhile, IT leaders can support those AI workloads using the same VMware tools they’ve always used to manage their private and hybrid clouds. And all of it is designed to run on affordable mainstream servers, Das said.

Other certified server vendors are Atos, Gigabyte, and Inspur. The servers support a wide range of Nvidia GPUs and are optimized for AI workloads running on vSphere and Nvidia AI Enterprise.

Related:NVIDIA Unveils Morpheus AI Cybersecurity Framework

Nvidia AI Enterprise is available immediately. Subscription licenses start at $2,000 per CPU socket for one year. Perpetual licenses are $3,595, the company said. Nvidia also announced that it has partnered with Domino Data Lab, whose Domino Enterprise MLOps software is integrated with Nvidia AI Enterprise.

About the Author(s)

Wylie Wong

Regular Contributor

Wylie Wong is a journalist and freelance writer specializing in technology, business and sports. He previously worked at CNET, Computerworld and CRN and loves covering and learning about the advances and ever-changing dynamics of the technology industry. On the sports front, Wylie is co-author of Giants: Where Have You Gone, a where-are-they-now book on former San Francisco Giants. He previously launched and wrote a Giants blog for the San Jose Mercury News, and in recent years, has enjoyed writing about the intersection of technology and sports.

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