Snippets: Faster computing gains traction

Faster computing

In a new survey, International Data Corporation (IDC) found accelerated computing is quickly gaining traction in the enterprise as businesses embrace these to overcome the limitations of central processing units (CPUs). To help organisations better understand where accelerated computing fits in the computing platforms hierarchy and to develop a more informed implementation strategy, IDC has published its first accelerated compute taxonomy.

Accelerated computing is the ability to speed up applications and workloads by offloading a portion of the processing onto adjacent silicon subsystems such as graphics processing units (GPUs) and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). Such apps/workloads rely on (single stream) pipeline processing where data locality is important for quick handoffs between various components. “Compute will become a lot less homogeneous as acceleration technologies, like GPUs and FPGAs, and yet-to-be-developed accelerators start transforming server infrastructure to meet the performance demands of modern workloads, including cognitive and AI,” said Peter Rutten, research manager, servers and computing platforms, IDC.

Roaming revenue dip

A study from Juniper Research has found that operator revenues from international mobile roaming are likely to see an 11 per cent decline in 2017, as operators introduce “Roam Like at Home” — it permits use of monthly voice, data and messaging allowance without additional charges — packages in key markets. Research author Nitin Bhas said: “This decline in global revenues is due to a 33 per cent fall in European roaming revenues, following the EU regulation to end roaming surcharges. While we expect roaming tariffs outside Europe to continue to be unregulated and much higher, operator focus will need to shift to innovative bundles and tailored pricing to preserve or grow revenues from travellers and immigrant workers.”