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Seamless Integration of Bridge with DDN EXAScaler for High-Performance AI Workloads

· 3 min read
Raghuram Gopalshetty
Raghuram Gopalshetty
Engineering

Managing external storage for GPU-accelerated AI workloads can be complex—especially when ensuring that storage volumes are provisioned correctly, isolated per tenant, and automatically mounted to the right compute nodes. With Bridge GPU Cloud Management Software (GPU CMS), this entire process is streamlined through seamless integration with DDN EXAScaler.

End-to-End Automation with No Manual Steps​

With Bridge GPU CMS, end users don't need to manually log into multiple systems, configure storage mounts, or worry about compatibility between compute and storage. The DDN EXAScaler integration is fully automated—allowing users to simply specify:

  • The desired storage size
  • The bare metal node where the storage should be mounted

Everything else—from tenant-aware provisioning, storage policy enforcement, network isolation, to automatic mount point creation—is handled seamlessly by Bridge GPU CMS.

Simple and Efficient Flow​

The process starts with the NCP admin (cloud provider admin) importing the entire GPU infrastructure (compute, storage, E-W network, N-S network) into the software and setting up a new tenant. Once the tenant is created, the tenant user can allocate a GPU bare-metal or VM instance and request external storage from DDN.

The tenant simply provides:

  • The desired storage size
  • The specific compute node where the storage should be mounted

Once these inputs are provided, Bridge GPU CMS handles all interactions with DDN, including:

  • Configuring storage volumes
  • Assigning tenant-specific quotas
  • Creating the mount point
  • Ensuring the mount point is immediately available on the compute node
  • Tenant specific North-South network isolation for accessing the DDN storage nodes

This zero-touch integration eliminates any need for the tenant to interact with the DDN portal directly.

Real-Time Validation Across Systems​

To ensure transparency and operational assurance, the NCP admin or tenant admin can view all configured storage volumes directly within Bridge GPU CMS. For additional verification, they can also cross-check the automatically created tenants, networks, policies, and mount points directly in the DDN admin portal.

All configurations are performed via APIs with no manual intervention.

Full Tenant Experience​

Once the storage is provisioned, the tenant user can log directly into their allocated GPU compute node and immediately access the mounted DDN EXAScaler storage volume. Whether for large-scale AI training data or model checkpoints or inference, this automated mount ensures data is available where and when the user needs it.

Key Benefits​

  • End-to-End Automation: No manual steps—just specify size and compute node, and Bridge GPU CMS handles everything else
  • Single Pane of Glass: Both compute and storage provisioning are managed from a single interface
  • Full Tenant Isolation: Each tenant's storage is isolated with network policies
  • Quota Management: Each tenant user's storage quota can be managed by the tenant admin
  • Real-Time Observability: Both admins and tenants can view and validate storage allocations directly within Bridge GPU CMS portal
  • API-Driven Consistency: All configurations—from mount points to network overlays—are performed through automated APIs, ensuring accuracy and compliance with tenant policies