Unleashing AI Performance with HighPoint’s Rocket 7638D: Direct GPU-to-NVMe Data Pathways mean Faster Training and Inference

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) workloads require that the host platform perform a balancing act between addressing computational demands of the GPU and providing rapid access to high-speed storage.

As models grow larger and datasets expand into terabytes or even petabytes, traditional workstation and server platforms struggle to keep GPUs fully fed with data. The resulting bottleneck leaves the GPUs sitting idly by as they wait for data, reducing efficiency and slowing down training and inference cycles.

The HighPoint Rocket 7638D PCIe Gen5 Switch Adapter addresses this challenge by providing a dedicated Gen5 x16 data pathway between the hosted GPU and NVMe storage. The adapter’s unique architecture eliminates bandwidth contention, providing a seamless, high-speed pipeline for data-hungry AI workloads.

The Problem: Shared PCIe Bandwidth Bottlenecks

Despite the proliferation of physical PCIe sots, modern platforms often force hosted GPUs and NVMe storage to share same PCIe lanes, which inevitably leads to a performance bottleneck. When large datasets are continuously read or written, the storage I/O will find itself in competition with GPU compute traffic. This creates latency, lowers throughput, and limits GPU utilization — critical drawbacks when training large-scale AI models or running real-time inference. Learn More

The Solution: HighPoint’s Rocket 7638D

The Rocket 7638D proven PCIe Gen5 switch architecture provides x48 lanes of internal bandwidth. And, unlike traditional adapters, this bandwidth can be allocated as needed:

Up to x16 dedicated lanes for external GPU expansion via CDFP-CopprLink connectivity

Up to x16 dedicated lanes for NVMe storage via the dual MCIO 8i ports

The remaining x16 lanes can be allocated to the upstream port; the adapter’s direct interface to the host platform and the CPU. This flexible architecture effectively eliminates performance bottlenecks, guaranteeing that both the GPU and NVMe storage receive a full 64GB/s of Gen5 bandwidth, simultaneously.

Ideal for Resource and Storage Intensive AI/ML Workflows

The Rocket 7638D’s groundbreaking design makes it an ideal solution for applications that benefit from high-performance GDS (GPU Direct Storage), enabling the GPU to interface directly with NVMe media, thereby bypassing the host CPU. The resulting reduction to CPU overhead, minimized latency and increased bandwidth can significantly accelerate AI and ML workloads.

Model Training: Larger datasets stream from NVMe storage directly to GPUs without delays, accelerating epochs and reducing total training time.

Inference Pipelines: Facilitates real-time data ingestion and fast GPU response, critical for AI in finance, autonomous driving, and healthcare diagnostics.

Data Preprocessing: Parallelized GPU compute and NVMe transfers enable high-speed data augmentation and preparation.

Scalable AI Infrastructure: Supports multi-GPU nodes by ensuring each GPU has dedicated bandwidth without sacrificing NVMe performance.

Why Connectivity Matters: HighPoint’s CDFP-CopprLink Advantage

At Gen5 speeds, signal integrity is paramount. The Rocket 7638D leverages HighPoint innovative Gen5 PCI-SIG CopprLink certified cabling solution to provide a robust, enterprise-grade connection between the host platform and external GPU. This guarantees reliable data transfers at full x16 Gen5 bandwidth where even minor signal degradation could otherwise result in performance loss or exacerbate the threat of latency.

Platform-Agnostic Integration

The Rocket 7638D is fully compatible with x86 Intel/AMD and ARM platforms, making it adaptable for a wide range of AI clusters and edge deployments. Native NVMe driver support across all major operating systems streamlines integration and upgrade projects, enabling existing platforms to reap the rewards of direct GPU to NVMe storage interchange while mitigating the risk of hardware compatibility and avoiding the installation and configuration of proprietary software

In summary

For organizations investing in AI infrastructure, HighPoint’s Rocket 7638D External PCIe Gen5 Switch Adapter is major game changer. By removing data bottlenecks and delivering dedicated PCIe Gen5 bandwidth pathways for the GPU and NVMe storage, it ensures that high-value computational resources are never underutilized.

The result: faster model training, smoother inference, and a scalable foundation for the next generation of AI workloads.

Learn More

HighPoint Rocket 7638D external PCle Gen5 Switch Adapter

HighPoint Unlocks NVIDIA GPU Power: Introduces Industry’s First Hardware Architecture for GPU-Direct NVMe Storage

Shared PCIe Bandwidth Bottlenecks: Why More Lanes Don’t Always Mean More Performance Introduction

FAQ

Q1:What is the Rocket 7638D?

An external PCIe Gen5 x16 Switch Adapter with dedicated GPU and NVMe lanes to eliminate bandwidth bottlenecks.

Q2: How does Rocket 7638D improve AI training?

It provides direct GPU-to-NVMe data pathways, ensuring faster dataset streaming and higher GPU utilization.

Q3: Why not just use motherboard PCIe lanes?

Shared PCIe bandwidth causes bottlenecks due to bifurcation and chipset uplinks. Rocket 7638D eliminates this issue with a dedicated PCIe switch.