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Data Center
Storage
Programmable Altera FPGAs accelerate NVMe-oF, compression, and encryption for line-rate storage services and predictable tail latency.
Line-rate storage that evolves with your data
Rapid data growth and AI-driven workloads are increasing the volume and complexity of storage processing in modern data centers. CPU cores and fixed hardware accelerators struggle with NVMe-oF protocol handling, inline data services, and consistent tail latency.
FPGAs move protocol processing and inline data services into deterministic, line-rate hardware pipelines, reducing CPU overhead while keeping the storage data path programmable. Altera® Agilex® FPGAs hold high fabric performance above 90% utilization, so NVMe-oF, compression, and encryption can run as one inline service chain on a single device.
The Challenges, and Why FPGA
The Challenge
NVMe-oF protocol overhead
Processing NVMe-oF over TCP or RoCEv2 in software takes host CPU cores away from applications and adds latency as traffic grows.
Why FPGA
Line-rate NVMe-oF you can update
Move NVMe-oF transport, queues, checksums, and packet processing into a programmable data path that keeps pace as your fabric evolves.
The Challenge
Data services that tax every I/O
Compression, encryption, and hashing add latency and CPU load when they run in software on the I/O path.
Why FPGA
Line-rate data services you can extend
Chain compression, encryption, hashing, and metadata processing in the I/O path at line rate, then add services like deduplication later.
The Challenge
Unpredictable tail latency
When RAID, replication, and journaling share host CPUs with applications, a few slow I/Os can hold up everything behind them.
Why FPGA
Predictable latency in hardware
Run RAID, replication, journaling, and block mapping in dedicated FPGA logic, so backend work no longer competes with applications.
Why Altera
Proven at cloud scale
Supporting storage, network, and security infrastructure across leading cloud environments.
More storage services on every FPGA
Agilex FPGAs keep high fabric performance above 90% utilization, so one device can run more of your storage stack.
Partners from IP to platforms
From compression IP to computational storage boards, partners help you start fast and focus on what sets you apart.
Start from an open, working stack
Open FPGA Stack provides open-source Linux drivers, host APIs, and card management, so you build services, not plumbing.
More Data Center Applications
DPU & AI NIC
Enables programmable DPUs and AI NICs that free host CPUs and keep accelerators fed at line rate.
Platform Management
Consolidates power sequencing, management, and hardware root of trust into one in-field upgradable FPGA.
AI Inference
Accelerates the compute- and memory-bound phases of inference and scales disaggregated inference clusters.
Common Questions
Agilex FPGAs accelerate NVMe-oF networking, inline compression, encryption, hashing, and deduplication, and backend work such as RAID, replication, and erasure coding. Partner computational storage platforms such as the BittWare IA-220-U2 package these services close to the data.
Agilex FPGAs terminate NVMe-oF over TCP or RoCEv2 in hardware and handle queue management, checksums, and packet processing at line rate, while the control plane runs on the SoC or host. This lowers host CPU overhead and gives fast access to remote NVMe storage and KV-cache tiers.
Yes. Agilex FPGAs run compression, encryption, and hashing directly in the I/O path, so data is processed once as it moves. Partner IP such as Eideticom NoLoad adds transparent compression and AES-256 encryption, and running these in hardware keeps latency predictable and frees host CPUs.
Begin on an Agilex 7 development kit or a partner storage card. Add partner IP for the services you need, such as NVMe, RAID, compression, or encryption, and build on Open FPGA Stack. Talk to an Altera expert to match a device and IP to your workload.
Your design is supported for the full lifecycle of the FPGA family you choose, with ongoing tool and support updates. Most Agilex devices are committed through 2045; contact Altera for the lifecycle of HBM2e-based Agilex 7 devices.