Technology companies are collaborating to boost data transfer speeds. With the exponential increase in computing activities, computers are likely to suffer from data backlog. To ensure that information flows smoothly, it is important to ensure fast data transfer between the nodes.
Google, IBM, Samsung, and Dell have come together to form new specification which may enhance data transfer speeds as early as next year. Two consortia namely OpenCAPI and Gen-Z are working towards designing these specifications.
OpenCAPI is a server accelerator standard. CAPI stands for Coherent Accelerator Processor Interface. The standard was originally invented by IBM. The standard is supported by various accelerators such as Nallatech, Alpha Data, DRC, and Edico Genome. CAPI is governed by IMB while OpenCAPI is a consortium for making the specifications accessible to the public.
Accelerators are fast becoming important as these are required to meet the computing needs of tasks such as big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning. OpenCAPI offers data transfer rate of 25Mb/second, vastly surpassing PCIe 3 standard which offers speed of 16Mb/second.
Both OpenCAPI and Gen-Z have made their specifications open for hardware makers. However, the initiatives are likely to face some roadblocks. The dominating player in the server market, Intel, does not belong to either consortium. Without the active collaboration of Intel, the standards are likely to struggle to find widespread acceptance.
Apart from this, there are technological issues as well such as ensuring the load balance and coordination between various decoupled units such as processors, memory, and storage.