Huawei, MapD Join Forces on GPU-Based Servers 

Data analytics and visualization specialist MapD Technologies has inked a deal with Huawei, the multinational networking and telecommunications giant, to juice the Chinese vendor's server hardware with scalable GPU-supported analytics.

The partners announced an agreement this week intended to improve compatibility between Huawei's latest FusionServer and MapD database and visualization platforms. Huawei (SHE: 002502) announced earlier this summer it was converting its FusionServer line to Intel's (NASDAQ: INTC) Xeon Scalable Processor.

Among the anticipated outcomes of the R&D initiative is improving hardware and software integration between servers and analytics while supporting more third-party applications that increasingly include analytics.

San Francisco-based MapD said Thursday (Aug. 10) the deal allows the Chinese telecom giant to sell it analytics platform in the nascent Chinese server market. Huawei also will roll out MapD's flagship database and visual analytics client on its G series FusionServer described as a heterogeneous server built around 32 GPUs that can serve as the basis of a supercomputing cluster.

Read the full story at sister web site Datanami.

About the author: George Leopold

George Leopold has written about science and technology for more than 30 years, focusing on electronics and aerospace technology. He previously served as executive editor of Electronic Engineering Times. Leopold is the author of "Calculated Risk: The Supersonic Life and Times of Gus Grissom" (Purdue University Press, 2016).