1. Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) is the future of flash storage . Businesses must manage increasingly large volumes of information driven by the adoption of data-intensive technologies, which continue to generate ever-increasing parallel data streams. The new NVMe host controller interface and storage protocol can process up to 64,000 parallel data streams, compared to SATA or SAS protocols that can only handle one queue at a time. Fujitsu has already announced plans to adopt native NVMe combined with PCIe-connected solid-state drives in its future storage product lines, along with ETERNUS AF ALL-Flash Arrays, which offer massively parallel data transfer speeds previously unattainable. In 2019, this huge boost in bus speeds will allow customers to manage massive parallel data access while ensuring minimal latency. While ultra-high-speed NVMe interfaces exist primarily "within the box", with NVMe over Fabric (NVMe-oF), the potential impact of NVMe is no longer limited to accelerated SSDs, but will drive new performance thresholds in servers, fabrics, storage, and system management.
2. We will see the rise of quantum technology and Fujitsu Digital Annealer. It seemed like an arcane idea just a few years ago, but the reality is that quantum computing is progressing rapidly and undoubtedly represents the future of computing. Fujitsu Digital Annealer's novel approach, a solution based on quantum-inspired technology, offers the ability to solve combinatorial optimization problems that simply wouldn't be possible using conventional computer architectures, at least not within a human lifetime. This includes examples such as solving problems for: searching for similarities in molecules for the discovery of new drugs or materials, optimizing portfolio risk in financial services, safeguarding against a potential financial crisis, increasing the efficiency of robot production, optimizing warehouse operations by reducing production time, and optimizing factory layouts and improving real-time traffic routes for public transportation planning.
Far from being a theoretical experiment, Fujitsu Digital Annealer is already operational, helping customers solve challenges such as finding molecular similarities in drug research, reducing production time for customized manufacturing, and optimizing the layout of stored components for factories and logistics. In October, details were announced of a proof-of-concept (PoC) project with NatWest in the UK to address some of the most complex, challenging, and time-consuming financial investment problems. This is achieved through the combination of high-quality liquid assets, including bonds, cash, and securities.
3. Machine learning will be accelerated through digital annealing. Based on a quantum-inspired approach, machine learning is where all the hard work of creating artificial intelligence takes place. The process begins by training the AI. If you want it to identify a cat, you have to show it millions of cat photos. This process takes time, and if it doesn't work correctly, you have to start over. Fujitsu Digital Annealer can help accelerate this training process, for example, by offering partially pre-trained components, such as speech synthesis recognition.
4. A new type of memory will revolutionize server workloads. NVMe technology not only influences the future of flash storage but also plays a vital role in the development of the next generation of servers. Fujitsu, Intel's cooperation and development partner, is responsible for developing the prototype server system based on Intel Optane DC persistent memory within the EU's Horizon 2020 project, called NEXTGenIO. This prototype system, based on PRIMERGY servers, leverages "non-volatile memory with persistence," which, unlike traditional DRAM, combines the speed of main memory with the persistence of conventional storage. By enabling affordable system memory capabilities with this new class of memory, end users can better optimize their workloads by moving and maintaining large amounts of data closer to the processor, minimizing the higher latency of data retrieval from system storage. This new technology will be available in the next generation (M5) of dual- and quad-socket PRIMERGY, as well as in the 8-socket PRIMEQUEST 3800 series servers, which will be launched in April 2019.
5. Container-based use cases will accelerate the adoption of hybrid IT. Containers are a hot topic, and their use will only increase in 2019. They are an aspect of the so-called "microservices" approach, in which an application is broken down into small, atomic, and encapsulated entities with limited functional scope. These containers can then be dynamically reassembled into complex applications and distributed across multiple platforms, enabling the simultaneous processing of multiple tasks. The payoff is that microservices simplify development (generally enabling super-agile DevOps) and maintenance, improve responsiveness to changing demands, allow scalability at individual service levels, and contribute to cost-effectiveness.
And because containers facilitate a focus on new features, troubleshooting, and shipping new or updated software, they are vehicles for delivering customer value. We implement containerization where it meets the demands of use cases, using open-source software such as OpenStack, Docker, and Kubernetes, as well as VMware and Microsoft environments, complemented by Fujitsu's top-tier software products, such as ServerView Cloud Monitoring Manager and Enterprise Service Catalog Manager. And, as a multi-cloud service provider, we also deploy it on our partner clouds, such as AWS and Microsoft Azure.
6. Liquid Immersion Cooling systems will deliver a major breakthrough. Getting the most out of AI or Big Data requires ever-increasing performance from IT systems. Accelerator chips, such as GPUs, require ever-increasing amounts of power, resulting in a dramatic increase in operating temperatures and the need for greater cooling. In some cases, data center air conditioning systems are already inadequate, limiting how we can fully exploit the potential of high-end systems. Fujitsu's Liquid Immersion Cooling Systems technology is a solution that uses efficient fluid-based cooling, reduces the demand for large-scale air conditioning equipment, and decreases overall energy consumption by around 40%. This reduction in energy consumption means that customers in data centers with limited power supplies can roughly double their server density and, therefore, their computing power. Either way, this leads to significant savings in 2019.
