First In-Depth Look at Google’s New Second-Generation TPU

It was only just last month that we spoke with Google distinguished hardware engineer, Norman Jouppi, in depth about the tensor processing unit used internally at the search giant to accelerate deep learning inference, but that device—that first TPU—is already appearing rather out of fashion.

This morning at the Google’s I/O event, the company stole Nvidia’s recent Volta GPU thunder by releasing details about its second-generation tensor processing unit (TPU), which will manage both training and inference in a rather staggering 180 teraflops system board, complete with custom network to lash several together into “TPU pods” that can deliver Top …

First In-Depth Look at Google’s New Second-Generation TPU was written by Nicole Hemsoth at The Next Platform.

Google’s new TPUs are here to accelerate AI training

Google has made another leap forward in the realm of machine learning hardware. The tech giant has begun deploying the second version of its Tensor Processing Unit, a specialized chip meant to accelerate machine learning applications, company CEO Sundar Pichai announced on Wednesday.The new Cloud TPU sports several improvements over its predecessor. Most notably, it supports training machine learning algorithms in addition to processing the results from existing models. Each chip can provide 180 teraflops of processing for those tasks. Google is also able to network the chips together in sets of what are called TPU Pods that allow even greater computational gains.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

What Happened To The CCDE?

Studying for a big exam takes time and effort. I spent the better part of 3 years trying to get my CCIE with constant study and many, many attempts. And I was lucky that the CCIE Routing and Switching exam is offered 5 days a week across multiple sites in the world. But what happens when the rug gets pulled our from under your feet?

Not Appearing In This Testing Center

The Cisco Certified Design Expert (CCDE) is a very difficult exam. It takes all of the technical knowledge of the CCIE and bends it in a new direction. There are fun new twists like requirements determination, staged word problems, and whole new ways to make a practical design exam. Russ White made a monster of a thing all those years ago and the team that continues to build on the exam has set a pretty high bar for quality. So high, in fact, that gaining the coveted CCDE number with its unique styling is a huge deal for the majority of people I know that have it, even those with multiple CCIEs.

The CCDE is also only offered 3-4 times a year. The testing centers are specialized Pearson centers Continue reading

IDG Contributor Network: The emergence of DevOps in the evolving digital enterprise

Welcome to the rise of the digital enterprise, where vendors and customers engage via applications and data is the new currency. Digital enterprises operate with radically different datanomics than conventional physical businesses. Here, digital information is the business.A successful digital enterprise is constantly updating applications in response to user context, market and environment—all of which is quantified, measured and delivered with data. Everything and everyone is personified by a digital footprint. Learning that the user just bought a new house requires change in recommendation from renters to home insurance. Reduction in price by a competitor or a new promotion needs a fast response. It is increasingly clear that a company’s ability to generate high-quality apps more rapidly is a critical differentiator. Fast is the new big.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: The emergence of DevOps in the evolving digital enterprise

Welcome to the rise of the digital enterprise, where vendors and customers engage via applications and data is the new currency. Digital enterprises operate with radically different datanomics than conventional physical businesses. Here, digital information is the business.A successful digital enterprise is constantly updating applications in response to user context, market and environment—all of which is quantified, measured and delivered with data. Everything and everyone is personified by a digital footprint. Learning that the user just bought a new house requires change in recommendation from renters to home insurance. Reduction in price by a competitor or a new promotion needs a fast response. It is increasingly clear that a company’s ability to generate high-quality apps more rapidly is a critical differentiator. Fast is the new big.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

With the Right Tools and Support, Anyone Can Build an Internet Connection

Billions of people are still offline.

According to the most recent statistics from the International Telecommunication Union, 53% the world is still lacking access to the Internet and all the opportunities it brings. This week at the annual STI Forum in the United Nations headquarters in New York, the Internet Society shared its views on one of the solutions: to ensure that people can connect themselves and their communities.

Carl Gahnberg

The ultimate Linux Trojan horse: Windows Subsystem for Linux

I'm a Linux user. And, as the old adage goes, "I don't do Windows." This is not an article about how Linux is superior to Windows. Truth be told, I don't begrudge any person's choice of computing environment—be it Windows, Mac, BSD, Amiga. What each person uses is truly up to them. Me? I use open source. I use free software. I use Linux. So, what then, do I make of Microsoft's Windows Subsystem for Linux aka WSL? For those unfamiliar, the WSL is basically a compatibility layer within Windows 10 that allows you to run Linux binaries. The end result is that you can run a full Linux shell, complete with Linux terminal applications, on a Windows PC.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

SAP seeks to speed analytics with AI technology

SAP wants to speed up how analytics adapt to change. It's doing that by embedding SAP Predictive Analytics' machine learning capabilities in S/4Hana."When you take something rules-based, you are not able to adapt predictions to new data," said Mike Flannagan, SAP's senior vice president for analytics, ahead of the company's Sapphire Now customer conference in Orlando."The power of machine learning is you are able to continually update the model. Your model is running against all the data it has seen so far."But there's another stumbling block to that: the computing power required for machine learning systems. "Most business apps aren't robust enough to handle the machine learning computation," said Flannagan. S4/Hana, on the other hand, is fast enough to embed machine-learning prediction in a core ERP system, something that was previously only possible with rules-based prediction, he said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Review: The 10 best JavaScript editors

JavaScript programmers have many good tools to choose from—almost too many to keep track of. In this article, I discuss nine text editors with good support for developing with JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS, and for documenting with Markdown. Why use an editor for JavaScript programming instead of an IDE? In a word: speed.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Outsourcing security: Would you turn over the keys to a third party?

Years ago it would have been unthinkable to give up control to securing your most valuable assets. But for some companies the risk of handing the security keys to a third party is less than the idea of facing the daily barrage of attacks.When asked why a company would cede control, many vendors said it depends on the level of staffing that company has. If the expertise is lacking, why take the chance. Or if it is a small to midsize enterprise, maybe there is just not a budget for creating a security staff up to the level needed. Therefore, partnering with a managed security services provider (MSSP) has become almost a must when faced with worries over data theft and the number of mobile devices entering the workplace. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Outsourcing security: Would you turn over the keys to a third party?

Years ago it would have been unthinkable to give up control to securing your most valuable assets. But for some companies the risk of handing the security keys to a third party is less than the idea of facing the daily barrage of attacks.When asked why a company would cede control, many vendors said it depends on the level of staffing that company has. If the expertise is lacking, why take the chance. Or if it is a small to midsize enterprise, maybe there is just not a budget for creating a security staff up to the level needed. Therefore, partnering with a managed security services provider (MSSP) has become almost a must when faced with worries over data theft and the number of mobile devices entering the workplace. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

5 steps to ending generational stereotypes

Stereotypes of any kind are harmful to your organization. And generational stereotypes -- millennials are lazy, entitled and needy; baby boomers are cranky Luddites who hate change; generation X … well, hates everything and everyone -- are no different. Perpetuating these stereotypes negatively impacts diversity and inclusion as well as engagement, productivity and morale, and it makes teamwork and collaboration difficult, if not impossible.Some of the most pervasive stereotypes surround millennials; those who are roughly 20 to 35 years old, says William A. Schiemann, CEO of Metrus Institute. Schiemann says he's continually faced with clients' confusion and misunderstanding about generational differences, and the stereotypes that arise from this confusion.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

6 steps for a future-ready cloud storage strategy

Blame it on poor copy data management, compliance requirements or the internet of things (IoT), but data storage volumes are growing exponentially, and that growth shows no signs of abating. Managing skyrocketing storage demands on limited resources is a top challenge for many enterprises. To alleviate the burden, many organizations have turned to the cloud.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

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