OVH and Accelize Partner to Deliver FPGA Acceleration-as-a-Service through OVH RunAbove Lab

The OVH FPGA Server combined with the Accelize QuickPlay/QuickStore solution makes the use and programming of cloud-based FPGA Accelerators easier than ever before

PARIS-- March 14, 2017 -- OVH and Accelize today announced that they have entered into a partnership to better enable OVH’s cloud customers to leverage the processing capabilities of FPGAs in the form of FPGA Acceleration-as-a-Service.

OVH first launched its FPGA server offering in summer 2016 as part of the RunAbove Lab, enabling users to evaluate FPGA capabilities by renting a dedicated FPGA Server where they can program and test their own FPGA designs. The partnership with Accelize now enables OVH users to operate pre-built FPGA accelerators on the RunAbove FPGA servers. These users can also customize these accelerators or create new ones, using the QuickPlay®/QuickStore® solution from Accelize, regardless of their FPGA expertise.

“We see 2017 as the year of the FPGA in data centers, and we know that many of our customers are interested in these devices and the acceleration capability they bring,” said Germain Masse, technical director for OVH. “However, we also know from experience that developing FPGA accelerators is a challenging task for many who would like to use them. Accelize’s offering addresses this perfectly with a complete, high-level tool flow for development plus an ecosystem of experienced developers who can offer pre-built accelerators to our customers.”

Accelize provides the pre-built accelerators for the RunAbove cloud server in cooperation with its QuickAlliance™ ecosystem partners. The current partners—CAST Inc., Barco Silex, and Logic Fruit—provide the hardware libraries (IP blocks) needed to create these ready-to-use accelerators that are ideal for data centers, including GZIP Compression, GUNZIP decompression, and AES Encryption. RunAbove users can easily launch these FPGA accelerators to immediately evaluate the benefits of FPGA Acceleration. Additional accelerators developed by new QuickAlliance partners will be available shortly.

Developers who have the application knowledge but not necessarily the FPGA expertise can now create efficient and tailored FPGA Accelerators by seamlessly combining proven design library functions (IP blocks) – from a growing catalog of third party providers – with their own specific logic functions defined using C/C++ code. They can in turn offer their newly developed accelerators for sale on the QuickStore marketplace with a business model that matches the Cloud computing as-a-Service model.

“This exciting joint offering goes beyond FPGA evaluation to actually put custom FPGA development within reach of many more OVH customers,” said Jean-Yves Brena, COO at Accelize. “It also paves the way for how FPGAs will be used effectively in the Cloud, with a pool of FPGA accelerator developers creating and maintaining a large selection of ready-to-use accelerators that Cloud Service providers such as OVH can sell as a service.”

Cloud users seeking to evaluate FPGA acceleration can rent a so-equipped FPGA Server from OVH RunAbove and immediately evaluate the pre-built accelerators loaded on that server. They can then implement and test their own FPGA accelerator ideas by getting a QuickPlay subscription and using its complete, end-to-end, software defined tool flow to target the FPGA server, all without having any prior FPGA design expertise.

IP providers and accelerator developers looking to make their products available in a Cloud computing environment should contact Accelize and join the QuickAlliance program.

For more information about the joint OVH-Accelize offering please go to: https://www.accelize.com/ovh-runabove

For more information about the FPGA Server accessible through RunAbove go to: https://www.runabove.com/labs/FPGAAccelize

About OVH

Founded in 1999, the OVH group innovates at the heart of the Internet, data centers (260,000 physical servers) and network (more than 10 Gbps bandwith capacity). As a result, today it is a major player in the European cloud market. Through its brands, OVH.com, So you start, RunAbove, and hubiC, the OVH group offers tools and solutions that are simple yet powerful, revolutionizing the way its 1,000,0000 worldwide customers work. Its credo is technology must serve business. Respect for the individual, freedom, and equal opportunity to access new technologies have always been and will be strong commitments of the company.

About Accelize

Spinoff of 20-year-old PLDA Group, Accelize aims to accelerate the adoption of FPGA-based reconfigurable hardware in IT infrastructures by streamlining the development and sale of FPGA accelerators with a unique, intuitive FPGA development flow and a business model that aligns with Could / data center needs. Its primary offerings, QuickPlay and QuickStore, are the result of years of research in the field of High-Level Design (HLD) and High-Level Synthesis (HLS) combined with the strong expertise in FPGA hardware and IP design. See www.accelize.com.