IHS Markit reports service providers are investing in datacentres to improve scalability, deploy applications rapidly, enable automation and harden security, pointing out an opportunity in the server and networking hardware markets.

The findings come through the IHS Markit Data Center Strategies and Leadership Global Service Provider Survey. Respondents state plans to take advantage of new options from server vendors, such as ARM-based servers and parallel compute co-processors, to better match servers to workloads. Said workloads deployed by respondents are IT applications (including financial and online transaction processing), ERP and generic VMs on VMware ESXi and Microsoft Hyper-V. As for top requirements, service providers mention speed and support for network protocol virtualisation, as well as SDN.

Key Digital announces the KD-X444S extender kit-- an HDCP 2.2 compliant device with a slim chassis ideal for residential installations requiring extension of HDMI signals up to 18Gbps via a single CAT5e/6 cable.

The KD-X444S supports HDR10 video through a greater range of luminance levels, and extends UHD/4K (4096x2160 / 3840x2160 24/25/30/60Hz) resolution video at 4:4:4 with bandwidth up to 18Gbps and Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos and DTS-HD Master Audio audio formats up to 40m using CAT5e/6 cabling. In addition, it extends 1080p video up to 70m with CAT6 cabling.

The extender features fully automatic feedback, equalisation and amplification adjustment depending on cabling lengths, meaning installers do not need to fine tune equalisation for each display. HDBaseT provides flexible power with only power power connection required, with the Tx providing power to the Rx or the Rx powering the Tx.

Gigabyte announces a trio of additions to the AMD Epyc server lineup, all aimed at the business and enterprise sectors-- the 2U G291-Z20 and G221-Z30 GPU servers, and the 4U S451-Z30 storage server.

The three systems are designed around the AMD Epyc single socket system, and promise enough power to replace a dual-socket server. The Epyc platform offers up to 32 cores, over 2TB memory capacity and 128 PCIe lanes per socket, allowing it to handle HPC workloads with over 16 simultaneously threads per schedulable task or process.

Both G291-Z20 and G221-Z30 servers are compatible with the AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 GPU, an accelerator able to deliver up to 24.6 TFLOPS of FP16 and 12.3 TFLOPS of FP32 peak performance, with large BAR (Base Address Register) support. The G291-Z20 supports up to x8 dual-slot GPGPU cards in a 2U chassis designed to maximise airflow through the GPU bays. It also features dual onboard M.2 ports, x8 2.5-inch hot-swappable HDD/SSD bays, dual SFP+ 10Gbps networking ports (upgradable to 256Gbps) and x2 PCIe x16 half-length low-profile slots for further expansion.

Netgear announces a pair of Insight Managed 52-port Smart Cloud switches-- the GC752X and GC752XP-- together with an update of the Insight cloud management system adding more functionality and PoE controls.

According to the company, the two units are the first 52-port ethernet switches 2 SFP and 2 SFP+ 10G ports, as well as Insight management. The GC752XP adds 48 ports of PoE+, together with a 505W PoE power budget. Management of both switches comes through the Insight app or Insight Cloud Portal allowing remote/cloud monitoring, management and advanced security.

Being fully-integrated cloud-managed devices, the switches do not need additional hardware such as cloud keys, local servers, VPN or proxy appliances. In addition, no complex setup is required for cloud connectivity, and Insight Managed products are also fully functional networking and storage solutions in local mode, since cloud connectivity is wholly optional.