Tech giants join forces for faster server tech

Google and a group of IT hardware companies have joined forces to develop the open coherent accelerator processor interface (OpenCAPI) specification, providing a foundation for high-speed microprocessor interconnect systems to devices. The open interface architecture is based on IBM's CAPI for POWER8 processors. OpenCAPI will however be processor design-agnostic. The idea is to allow fast, direct connections between applications and user-level hardware accelerators and advanced memory systems for cloud servers and big data and analytics. OpenCAPI does away with the need to run device drivers and communication with accelerators over a bus like PCIe, which adds latency and slows performance.