Data Processing Units: What Are Dpus And Why Do You Want Them?

Data processing units (DPUs) have emerged as a new computing pillar in the modern computing landscape, providing increased processing power, efficiency, and performance for data-centric workloads. DPUs are designed to offload network and communication workloads from the CPU, freeing up resources for application processing, and are capable of handling complex tasks such as data transfer, reduction, security, compression, analytics, and encryption. This article provides a foundational understanding of what a DPU is, how DPUs work, the benefits of DPUs, how to choose the right DPU vendor, and FAQs.