Avnet and Digital Reality unveil virtual platforms for video streaming

The initial solution is founded on a 3^rd Gen AMD EPYC based server from Supermicro and integrated with AMD Alveo U30 media accelerator cards.

Avnet Virtual Platforms is an evaluation platform offered by Avnet Integrated, the global advanced systems integration arm of Avnet. The platform enables customers to virtually benchmark workloads on high-performance, typically capital-intensive IT hardware stacks.

Once optimised solutions are defined, Avnet Integrated facilitates volume deployment and servicing of the prescribed solutions – providing customers with a single point of engagement throughout the life of the solution. Customers may then focus wholly on extending their competitive advantage, typically found in software innovation, and driving demand with their users. 

The initial solution offering is purpose-built to address the growing needs of the global video streaming market which is estimated by Research and Markets to reach $224B by 2028. New, growing, and established digital content providers will benefit from access to high-performance IT hardware, the ability to virtualise their hardware, and efficiently outsource how they purchase video streaming solutions.

Typical applications include: 

• Live events
• Telehealth
• Live eCommerce
• Customer support & engagement
• eLearning
• Live sports betting
• Live social and collaboration
• Interactive media & entertainment 

To satisfy the low-latency requirements of applications like video streaming, and enable immediate scale, Avnet is leveraging Digital Realty and its global footprint of 310+ data centres.

This allows customers to evaluate solutions in a production-ready environment of highly interconnected facilities. Digital Realty’s PlatformDIGITAL allows customers to see how their applications will perform when deployed, without having to make the full deployment investment.  

Additionally, to deliver the unprecedented compute performance required by these real-time applications, Avnet has deployed Supermicro A+ servers based on AMD EPYC processors & AMD Alveo U30 Media Accelerators.

While this solution addresses the low-latency compute and bandwidth requirements inherent to interactive streaming, the Alveo U30 media accelerators simultaneously drive a reduction in the cost per stream and overall power consumption. 

“As the insatiable demand for high-performance IT solutions continues, the collaboration with Digital Realty drives a new level of capital optimisation, for technology providers and customers, that also accelerates time to market, and scale, of these needed solutions,” said Nicole Enright (pictured) President, Avnet Integrated.

“Digital Realty is actively supporting the industry’s shift to a data-centric architecture and is evolving its interconnection capabilities with an updated roadmap for PlatformDIGITAL, a first of its kind global data centre platform for scaling digital businesses. Our partnership with Avnet Integrated and the deployment of the first video streaming centric solution from our Santa Clara Campus paves the way for subsequent installations and the expansion of solution profiles (i.e. liquid cooled servers) to accelerate innovation where high-performance matters,” said Tony Bishop, SVP, Enterprise, Platform and Solutions, Digital Realty. 

"The live streaming market is rapidly evolving and service providers are urgently looking for ways to reduce infrastructure overhead and the associated capital and operating expenses to scale,” said Sean Gardner, head of video strategy and market development, Video Transcoding Group, AMD. “The Alveo U30 media accelerator, coupled with 3rd generation EPYC processors, maximizes video server density while reducing power and thermal footprint. Now, with its availability through Avnet Virtual Platforms, customers can move from concept to production even faster to meet their market window.” 

“Today’s leading high-performance video streaming applications need solutions optimised with the latest innovations,” said Don Clegg, senior vice president, Worldwide Sales, Supermicro. “The Supermicro 1U, AS -1114S-WN10RT, incorporating an AMD CPU with up to 64 cores, is an ideal solution for these compute-intensive workloads.”