Delivering validated infrastructure for next-generation AI services

Today marks a significant milestone as we announce the completion of the NetApp® reference architecture (RA) for NVIDIA Cloud Partners (NCPs). This validated solution combines the world-class computing performance of NVIDIA HGX systems with NetApp intelligent data infrastructure. With this solution, service providers can deliver scalable, high-performance AI services while unlocking new revenue opportunities in the rapidly expanding AI market.

Service providers today face significant pressure to deliver differentiated AI services to their customers. The challenge isn’t just about having high-performance computing resources. The challenge is also to create a comprehensive, enterprise-grade infrastructure that can handle the complexities of modern AI workloads while meeting the security, governance, and multitenancy requirements that enterprise customers demand. 

By providing a validated blueprint for how to deploy AI infrastructure at scale, the NetApp AFF A90 storage system RA for NCPs directly addresses these challenges. With its configurations supporting up to 16,000 GPUs, service providers can now offer everything from basic AI training services to advanced, cutting-edge agentic AI solutions. 

This initiative transforms the economics of AI infrastructure. Traditional AI deployments often suffer from GPU underutilization, data silos, and inefficient storage architectures that create bottlenecks. Our solution eliminates these issues through several key innovations: 

• Optimized GPU utilization. The integration of NetApp intelligent data infrastructure with NVIDIA HGX systems takes advantage of NVIDIA Magnum IO GPUDirect Storage to reduce latency and to speed processing times. Expensive accelerated computing resources are fully used rather than waiting for data. 
• Unified data management. With NetApp ONTAP® advanced data management capabilities, service providers can seamlessly and securely move and replicate data across hybrid cloud environments, enabling efficient resource allocation and eliminating costly data silos. 
• Secure, scalable multitenancy. Perhaps most important for service providers, NetApp ONTAP supports secure multitenancy by isolating workloads across multiple customers while maximizing infrastructure utilization, a critical capability for shared AI infrastructure. 

The NetApp and NVIDIA NCP certification enables service providers to monetize sophisticated value-added services that go far beyond basic compute hosting. These services include: 

• Disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS). By using NetApp SnapMirror® technology, service providers can offer real-time dataset replication across hybrid environments, creating subscription-based revenue opportunities while maintaining business continuity for enterprise customers. 
• Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) services. Integration of NetApp intelligent data infrastructure with NVIDIA NeMo Retriever microservices enables service providers to offer RAG solutions that securely combine generative AI models with customer datasets. They can be offered as a premium service for enterprises that are seeking intelligent productivity tools. 
• Agentic AI hosting. By combining ONTAP data management with NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs, service providers can deliver next-generation agentic AI solutions that support reasoning model workloads, positioning themselves as leaders in advanced AI services. 

What distinguishes this solution is its enterprise-grade foundation. Many AI infrastructure offerings focus solely on performance, but enterprise customers require much more. They need consistent governance across hybrid environments, comprehensive security that meets strict compliance requirements, and reliability to support mission-critical operations. 

NetApp ONTAP meets these requirements through multiple layers of protection, including robust access controls, comprehensive encryption, and integrated security monitoring. The platform’s proven track record of storing top-secret data and meeting the most stringent government security standards provides the trust that enterprise customers demand. 

This RA represents a pathway to the future of AI infrastructure. As organizations move from AI experiments to production deployments, and as agentic AI systems become mainstream, the need for intelligent data infrastructure becomes paramount. The storage and networking infrastructure must be sized appropriately for the number of accelerated servers and the AI workload. 

The collaboration between NetApp and NVIDIA provides the validated foundation that service providers need to compete in the AI economy. Whether it’s supporting traditional machine learning workloads, large language model training, or advanced agentic AI systems, this infrastructure scales to meet evolving demands. 

At NetApp, we believe that AI is no longer a “science project.” It’s a business-critical fundamental that requires enterprise-grade data management. Our AI factory vision recognizes that successful AI deployment requires more than just compute power. It demands seamless data management, enterprise-grade security, unified data integration, production-scale reliability, and the ability to share data infrastructure to maximize ROI without sacrificing security.  

The NetApp RA for NVIDIA NCP delivers on this vision, giving service providers the tools that they need to build thriving businesses in the age of AI. By combining NVIDIA accelerated computing with NetApp intelligent data infrastructure, we’re not just solving today’s challenges, we’re building the foundation for tomorrow’s AI innovations. 

For service providers who are ready to capitalize on the AI opportunity, the future belongs to those who embrace innovation today. Our solution with NVIDIA provides the validated path forward.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ To get started, learn more about NetApp AI solutions.