As demand soars for AI-powered solutions, SharonAI were challenged with the need to scale fast while guaranteeing operational certainty in the form of zero downtime, inter-connectivity and market leading security posture. Specialising in NVIDIA DGX-based GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS) solutions, the company required digital infrastructure capable of handling high-performance workloads without interruption.
To support their rapidly growing customer base, SharonAI adopted a performance-optimised architecture, ensuring they could scale rapidly while keeping operations seamless. With customers counting on uninterrupted AI services, 100% uptime and swift, secure data transfers were mission critical.
As Sharon AI rapidly scales its GPUaaS operations, it faced the imperative of also rapidly scaling its core data centre infrastructure to meet the demands of AI workloads. Accelerated computing requires substantial and resilient power delivery, advanced cooling solutions and flexible, agile interconnectivity to minimise network complexity and unlock access to a broad ecosystem of service providers and customers.
Scaling up these resources while maintaining uptime, security, data sovereignty and cost efficiency is crucial to Sharon AI’s growth strategy.
“Our customers range from AI startups to large enterprises, with workloads that include fraud detection, weather mapping and human genome research,” according to Andrew Leece, Sharon AI’s Chief Operating Officer in Australia.
“We provide the high-performance infrastructure that powers these innovative applications. We’re just at the beginning of the AI opportunity, particularly in areas like scientific engineering, generative AI, high-performance computing and high-definition video content delivery."
One of the key priorities for Sharon AI is the need for operational certainty and 100% uptime around power delivery as well as industry benchmark security and interconnectivity.
“Our customers are relying on the ability to run AI-powered applications without interruption, for as long as they need,” said Leece. “Having a partner that allows us to execute on that while scaling and remaining flexible is crucial for our growth.”
Another key focus for Sharon AI is interconnectivity, meaning the ability to simplify complex network architectures to support a diverse and dynamic range of industry-based workloads, clouds and locations, all of which are critical in managing their distributed GPUaaS platform.
“Overall, we favour industry leading partners inclusive of data centres, to meet the needs of demanding customers in terms of security and reliability,” said Leece. “Power, security and connectivity are the keys to achieving the operational certainty we need.”
Sharon AI partnered with NEXTDC to establish a footprint in three state-of-the-art, Tier IV-certified data centres on Australia’s east coast to host their GPUaaS platform. Critically, all infrastructure and data stays onshore, helping SharonAI meet regulatory and customer requirements around data sovereignty.
With certification in the NVIDIA DGX-Ready Data Center Program, these NEXTDC facilities meet NVIDIA’s rigorous reference architecture requirements. They have been optimised for hosting the latest generation of NVIDIA GPUs, supporting Sharon AI’s advanced AI workloads in a highly secure and energy-efficient environment.
Additionally, NEXTDC’s AXON virtual interconnection platform ensures seamless connectivity between data centres, complementary digital services and customers under a utility-style Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) billing model.
“AXON was a critical component in the decision to engage NEXTDC as our data centre partner,” Leece said. “It allows us to harness fast, secure interconnectivity to an extensive ecosystem of customers and digital service providers as well as delivering improved application performance and real-time network orchestration.”
Leece and the SharonAI team have come to trust the operational certainty that NEXTDC’s premium digital infrastructure offers through the highest level of security, data sovereignty and operational uptime, thereby guaranteeing 100% availability of core infrastructure.
Performance, flexibility and agility of interconnectivity has been another benefit, with Sharon AI using AXON as a NaaS solution to scale its network infrastructure on demand. This ensures rapid deployment of customer workloads and quick, efficient data transfers, all while minimising latency – a crucial factor for AI inferencing applications.
The team at SharonAI are also benefiting from being embedded in NEXTDC’s broader ecosystem of cloud service providers, carriers and co-located customers. This proximity is supported by agile interconnectivity which helps streamline their operations by ensuring low-latency access to critical services and partners.
Importantly, flexibility and agility are also fundamental to the partnership, according to Leece:
“With NEXTDC, we can quickly scale up into an infrastructure environment exactly as we want it. This means we don't have to invest in our own data centres, giving us the ability to focus on growth and innovation without the heavy upfront capital.”
With the confidence that its infrastructure needs are being handled by a trusted partner, Sharon AI is prioritising innovation and leadership in the rapidly growing AI and GPUaaS markets.
“The AI revolution is just getting started,” reiterated Leece. “Sharon AI is poised for significant growth, and having the confidence in our underlying infrastructure accelerates our competitive advantage when we're delivering leading-edge technologies.
“SharonAI is powering the AI revolution with its GPU-as-a-Service delivery model and SharonAI’s home in Australia is with NEXTDC.
“NEXTDC allows us to grow with certainty, knowing we can adapt to the next wave of AI innovation.”
NEXTDC is where the cloud livesTM and where AI thrivesTM
As an NVIDIA DGX-Ready Data Center, we’re equipped to support advanced AI capabilities through our AI Factories and industry-leading NVIDIA DGX certifications. Contact us to learn how we are powering the next generation of AI Data Centres.