Keynote: Networking for AI and HPC, and Ultra Ethernet

Hugh Holbrook, the chief development officer for Arista Networks, delivers a presentation on Enhanced Ethernet Usage for AI and High-Performance Computing, focusing on the work of the Ultra Ethernet Consortium. He details the challenges of AI and HPC traffic, the consortium's goals, and the Ultra Ethernet transport protocol, including its attributes like multipathing, reliability mechanisms, and security. The presentation covers various layers of the network, from application to link, and discusses load balancing, packet spraying, congestion control, and ephemeral connections. Following the presentation, Hugh answers questions from the audience, addressing topics such as link layer retransmission over WAN links, packet reordering, the relevance of the technology to both LLM training and usage, packet trimming, and the potential need for increased fiber connections between metro nodes.