It’s storage … it’s a processor — no, it’s The Machine, HPE’s new multi-purpose technological thingamajig. Some in tech are grappling with The Machine, finding it awkward to grok exactly what it is and why people should care. We asked one of the brains behind The Machine to explain (in English) how it really translates to current markets and future opportunities.

Kirk Bresniker, fellow and chief architect at Hewlett Packard Labs, said it’s all to do with memory, processors and the distance between them. The Machine shortens the bridge between the two computing components to enable faster communication. The Machine features “graphical processing units doing high performance … computation, general purpose processors doing shepherding and management of data resources,” he detailed.

He told Dave Vellante (@dvellante) and Paul Gillin (@pgillin), co-hosts of theCUBE*, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, during HPE Discover EU that these processors are “all pointing at the same piece of memory, so they can all update things simultaneously.” (*Disclosure below)

Improvised infrastructure that drives like purpose-built

Bresniker stated that the application-first ethos evolving in tech demands that infrastructure be more fluid and composable.

He said app developers need to be able to construct and deconstruct elements and still get the performance of purpose-built. “The ability for us to choose the right memory for the right job is very important, and it’s something we don’t really have today,” he said, adding that this is a main goal of The Machine.

The future of open fabric

Bresniker also explained that HPE is part of the Gen-Z Consortium, “a group of companies that understands that open fabric interfaces ignite innovation.”

He said HPE will be rolling out its own innovations, such as a photonic chip module used in The Machine prototype, sooner rather than later.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of HPE Discover EU. (*Disclosure: HPE and other companies sponsor some HPE Discover EU segments on SiliconANGLE Media’s theCUBE. Neither HPE nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo by SiliconANGLE