Cisco and NetApp expanded their partnership with the release of a converged infrastructure solution.

NetApp AFX promises a disaggregated all-flash storage designed for AI workloads and certified for Nvidia DGX SuperPOD supercomputing. The tool is driven by NetApp’s ONTAP operating system, designed for storage systems within hybrid cloud environments, and supports linear scalability up to 128 nodes, handling terabit-per-second bandwidth, exabyte-level capacity, and independent scaling of performance and capacity.

When integrated with optional DX50 data compute nodes, AFX can enable a distributed metadata engine that maintains a real-time catalog of enterprise data, utilizing Nvidia GPU acceleration for high-performance data processing.

The AFX architecture integrates with Cisco Nexus 400 Gb/s switches for intra-cluster networking, and alongside Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) allowing centralized management for users through Cisco’s Intersight cloud-based management platform.

The integration will eventually extend to the FlexPod AI platform, which was launched in 2019. The firms touted that integration for support of AI workload demand banking on the high bandwidth and low-latency capabilities of the Nexus switches.

“The NetApp data platform allows our customers to build out intelligent data infrastructure that unifies their data for advanced workloads like AI," NetApp Chief Commercial Officer Dallas Olson explained. "By working with Cisco, NetApp is delivering a unified solution for AI-ready data centers. This collaboration combines the advanced storage architecture of NetApp AFX with AI networking from Cisco, setting a new standard for performance, scalability, and simplicity in enterprise AI infrastructure."

The Cisco collaboration follows the recent expansion of NetApp and Google Cloud's partnership in a move aimed at helping public sectors and regulated industries access AI infrastructure while meeting security requirements.

NetApp will be adding its NetApp ONTAP and StorageGrid solutions to Google's Distributed Cloud, which it claimed would give customers better control over their data to scale workloads and use AI.