ESPA Bootcamp: AMD’s view on Filecoin and Web3
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has stayed at the forefront of technological development since the advent of the microprocessor, its most popular product. The company has provided hardware solutions that have served every stage of development in computer technology, from the personal computer to the rise of server-based social networking. Web3 and decentralized infrastructure will not be the exception.
Joerg Roskowetz, Head of Blockchain Technology, shared AMD’s outlook on the web3 space and what it’s doing to foster its growth. Three years ago, the company started looking to expand its place in the web3 market beyond cryptocurrency mining and looking into other enterprise applications for its technology.
AMD’s Work with the Filecoin Network
Through its work with enterprise solutions and data centers, AMD found that the Filecoin network was a promising workload to service. Europe-based Filecoin Storage Provider ElioVP presented the company with the first case of an application where AMD’s EPYC CPUs were connected with the Instinct graphics solutions. AMD then started to work with the SP community and has since become more involved in the Filecoin ecosystem.
AMD sees the Filecoin network and other infrastructure leaders in the web3 space as an opportunity to integrate AMD reference architecture into global cutting-edge solutions. As the space continues to evolve, the company is focused on being able to provide the right hardware improvements that maximize efficiency and security industry-wide as well as reducing the carbon footprint.
SPs, specifically, can currently benefit from AMD technology in various ways:
- Multi-thread CPU capabilities: Increased capacity to run parallel threads is very beneficial to the sealing process in the Filecoin network.
- Security mechanisms: Platform security processors (PSPs) are independent ARM processors present in AMD CPUs and graphics cards that cryptographically secure transactions between these different components.
The Future of the Space
For Roskowetz, the development of smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain signaled a paradigm shift in the technology industry. Many of the web3 applications that have become possible ever since — NFTs and the metaverse — will all make use of distributed storage in some way or another.
The shift to decentralized systems and peer-to-peer ecosystems will require a change in how to develop proper solutions and technology products. As a result, infrastructure like Filecoin will become essential to their development.
From a general perspective, the AMD Blockchain Business Unit has identified three pillars where it can improve web3 workloads as the space continues to develop: gaming, consortium activity, and enterprise business — distributed storage is a part of this last pillar. Dive deeper into AMDs views on these pillars by watching a full recording of Stefaan Vervaet’s interview with Roskowetz at the ESPA Bootcamp.
