Pioneering security of research applications using BlueField Data Processing Units (DPUs)

Monash University played an instrumental role in Mellanox’s successful venture into Ethernet. Concurrently Monash refocussed to the grand challenges of processing data within the data tsunami. Monash developed an internal capability to engineer cloud / HPC computing driven through the application of data-centric methodologies. It required the scale / price / efficiency of Mellanox's Infini-Band technologies, but with the connectivity and software ecosystem of Ethernet. In effect Monash played a co-development role in commercialisation of Mellanox's ConnectX product line. We were a tolerant early adopter, providing reference implementations and societally relevant use cases. Monash now operates Australia’s largest research cloud, and operates both HPC and sensitive data enclaves within this cloud. 
The next generation of disruptive technology from Mellanox aligns with the next era of digital research infrastructure's grand challenges. The Mellanox BlueField product line is an implementation of smart-NICs and Data Processing Units (DPUs). It will enable Monash to pioneer research and society relevant platforms that encompass security, privacy, information-governance & GDPR, whilst limiting / eliminating the impact of these concerns on applications / researchers themselves. This project is to contribute to the production release of BlueField by means of early adoption to research applications.