OVH and Accelize Demonstrate the Value of FPGAs in the Cloud with GZIP Compression, from CAST, Achieving Acceleration Factors of >100x

FPGA-as-a-service.com is first open platform to offer free, easy evaluation of FPGA acceleration in the cloud

July 27th, 2017 – Roubaix, France – Accelize and OVH, in partnership with CAST, today announced the availability of GZIP compression on FPGA-as-a-service.com, the industry’s first online platform for FPGA acceleration evaluation that enables cloud users to evaluate FPGA acceleration for compute-intensive applications. GZIP Compression - the first accelerator available on the platform – is running an acceleration factor of over 100x, demonstrating the high value FPGAs bring to the cloud. fpga-as-a-service.com runs on the OVH Runabove FPGA server and leverages the QuickPlay® FPGA development framework from Accelize. The goal of fpga-as-a-service.com is to reduce the costly, complex process for evaluating and selecting FPGA IP cores by enabling cloud users to evaluate FPGA ​acceleration directly on the web through pre-built accelerators. The first accelerator available is GZIP compression with more hardware libraries and IP cores to be added over the coming weeks.

“2017 is the year of FPGAs. At OVH, we are committed to bring the value of these devices to our users worldwide, and this GZIP compression accelerator on Fpga-as-a-service.com running on our RunAbove FPGA server is a demonstration of this commitment.” said Germain Masse, Technical Director at OVH. “ Our dedication to cutting edge technology and the partnership we built with Accelize have enabled us to increase the flexibility and openness of our FPGA servers, as we are making the benefits of FPGAs in the cloud accessible to a wider range of users – even those with little or no FPGA expertise.”

This announcement builds on the partnership between Accelize and OVH announced in March, 2017, which enabled OVH users to operate pre-built FPGA accelerators on the RunAbove FPGA servers. OVH customers can also customize these accelerators or create new ones, using the QuickPlay/QuickStore® solution from Accelize. The Accelize solution enables users to create FPGA accelerators without having to have any experience or knowledge of FPGAs.

“Having spent 20 years working with FPGAs, Accelize understands the tremendous performance improvements FPGAs provide for compute-intensive workloads such as compression, encryption, cryptography, deep learning and video processing. We also recognize the barriers that have been holding up the mainstream adoption of FPGA technology and are working to remove them,” said Jean-Yves Brena, CEO of Accelize. “fpga-as-a-service.com is the first of its kind and is one of the ways we are able to help new users leverage the benefits of FPGAs. fpga-as-a-service.com enables users to experience the value of FPGA acceleration in the cloud, starting with GZIP, making such evaluation easier and accessible to a wider range of users.”

About fpga-as-a-service.com

Fpga-as-a-service.com was created as a way for Accelize to help bring FGPA acceleration to more users, especially in the cloud. Fpga-as-a-service.com makes the benefits of FPGAs in the cloud more accessible. First, the site introduces new users to the value of FPGAs by allowing them to experiment with FPGA acceleration free of charge. Secondly, it lets users evaluate a range of FPGA hardware libraries before making a final decision on which one to use. Over the coming weeks and months, additional accelerators for workloads in areas such as security, video transcoding, deep learning and advanced searches will become available on the platform.

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 (with many more in the works)—provide the hardware libraries (IP blocks) needed to create ready-to-use accelerators. Currently, Accelize is adding IP providers and accelerator developers looking to make their products available in a cloud computing environment. For more information, contact Accelize and ask about the QuickAlliance program.

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 Cloud / 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 and follow @accelize on Twitter for more information.