Alibaba’s cloud-computing unit AliCloud has introduced its Big Data services platform. AliCloud has also announced it has signed a partnership agreement with US-based chipmaker Nvidia to create an internet-based high-performance graphics processing service in China.
AliCloud serves Alibaba Group’s e-commerce websites and external clients including both international businesses and small and SMEs in China. Its newly announced Big Data Platform will offer 20 services, covering all aspects of data development, including computation, information processing and analysis and so-called machine learning. Over the next three years, the company plans to team up with 1,000 data developers, who will in turn leverage the platform to provide these services to their customers.
Customers of AliCloud’s Big Data Platform include financial institutions such as Zhongan Securities, online ticket booking websites such as Damai.com and media outlets such as local and national television stations.
AliCloud, in cooperation with Nvidia, plans to increase the capacity for high-performance computing in China. The tie-up follows the launch in December of AliCloud HPC to deliver graphics-processing units to enterprise customers using technologies like facial- and image-recognition in their businesses. As part of that launch, Nvidia’s Tesla K40 graphics processor was installed in AliCloud’s servers to process larger amounts of data to serve those customers.
Under the new deal, AliCloud and Nvidia will develop more applications for clients in sectors such as education, research, government, media, entertainment and medicine. AliCloud and Nvidia will also establish a research facility dedicated to ‘deep learning’.
