The role of storage in the ‘virtuous AI data cycle’
Peter Hayles
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As new infrastructure emerges to train artificial intelligence programs and offer new services, important implications arise around how to store this insight.
With AI creating new data and making existing data more valuable, a cycle quickly emerges, where increased data generation leads to expanded storage needs.
This fuels further data generation — forming a “virtuous AI data cycle.”
Understanding this AI data cycle is important for organizations looking to access the power of AI and leverage its capabilities.
The AI data cycle is a six-stage framework. The first focuses on collecting existing raw data and storage. Data here is collected and stored from various sources, and the analysis of the quality and diversity of collected data is critical — setting the foundation for the next stages.
For this stage of the cycle capacity enterprise hard disk drives (eHDDs) are recommended, as they deliver the highest capacity per drive and lowest cost per bit.
The next stage is where data is prepared for intake and the analysis from the previous stage is processed, cleaned and transformed for training.
To accommodate this stage, data centers are implementing upgraded storage infrastructure — such as fast data lakes — to support data for preparation and intake.
Here, high-capacity solid-state drives are needed to enhance existing HDD storage or to create new all-flash storage systems.
Then comes the training of AI models to make accurate predictions with training data. This happens on high-performance supercomputers — requiring specialized and high-performance storage to operate efficiently.
High-bandwidth flash storage and low-latency optimized eSSDs are designed to meet the specific needs of this stage.
Next, inference and prompting involves creating a user-friendly interface for AI models. This includes an application programming interface (API), dashboards and tools that combine context to specific data with end-user prompts.
With AI creating new data and making existing data more valuable, a cycle quickly emerges, where increased data generation leads to expanded storage needs.
Peter Hayles
Then, AI models will integrate into internet and client applications without needing to replace current systems, meaning that maintaining current systems alongside new AI computing will require further storage.
Here larger, faster SSDs are required for AI upgrades in computers, and higher-capacity embedded flash devices are required for smartphones and Internet of Things systems.
The AI inference engine stage follows, where trained models are deployed into production environments to analyze new data and generate new content or provide real-time predictions. The engine’s level of efficiency is critical to achieve quick and accurate AI responses.
To ensure comprehensive data analysis, significant storage performance is required. High-capacity SSDs can be used for streaming or to model data into inference servers based on scale or response time needs, while high-performance SSDs can be used for caching.
Finally, the new content is generated, with insights produced by AI models and then stored. This stage feeds back into the data cycle, driving continuous improvement by increasing the value of data for training or to be analyzed by future models.
The generated content will be stored in enterprise hard drives for datacenter archives and in both high-capacity SSDs and embedded flash devices for AI edge devices.
By understanding these six stages of the AI data cycle and having the right tools in place, businesses can better sustain the technology to perform internal business functions and capitalize on the benefits AI offers.
Today’s AI uses data to produce text, video, images and other interesting content. This continuous loop of data consumption and generation accelerates the need for performance-driven and scalable storage technologies for managing large AI datasets and re-factoring complex data efficiently, driving further innovation.
Demands for storage are significantly increasing as its role becomes more prevalent. Access to data, the efficiency and accuracy of AI models, and larger, higher-quality datasets will increasingly become important.
Additionally, as AI becomes embedded across nearly every industry, partners and customers can expect to see storage component providers tailor products to each stage of the AI data cycle.
• Peter Hayles is the product marketing manager for hard disk drives at the US computer manufacturer and data storage company Western Digital
Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point of view
Grundberg’s office said his visit would also “support the release of the arbitrarily detained UN, NGO, civil society and diplomatic mission personnel”
Updated 38 min 11 sec ago
AFP
SANAA: Hans Grundberg, the United Nation’s special envoy for war-torn Yemen, arrived Monday in the rebel-held capital in a bid to breathe life into peace talks, his office said.
Grundberg last visited the capital Sanaa, controlled by the Iran-backed Houthis, in May 2023 for meetings with the rebels’ leaders in an earlier effort to advance a roadmap for peace.
The envoy’s current visit “is part of his ongoing efforts to urge for concrete and essential actions... for advancing the peace process,” Grundberg’s office said in a statement.
Yemen has been at war since 2014, when the Houthis forced the internationally recognized government out of Sanaa. The rebels have also seized population centers in the north.
In March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition intervened to prop up the beleaguered government.
A UN-brokered ceasefire in April 2022 calmed fighting and in December 2023 the warring parties committed to a peace process.
But tensions have surged during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, as the Houthis struck Israeli targets and international shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, in a campaign the rebels say is in solidarity with Palestinians.
In response to the Houthi attacks, Israel as well as the United States and Britain have hit Houthi targets in Yemen over the past year. One Israeli raid hit Sanaa’s international airport.
Grundberg’s office said his visit would also “support the release of the arbitrarily detained UN, NGO, civil society and diplomatic mission personnel.”
Dozens of staff from UN and other humanitarian organizations have been detained by the rebels, most of them since June, with the Houthis accusing them of belonging to a “US-Israeli spy network,” a charge the United Nations denies.
Leao, Pulisic and Abraham inspire AC Milan comeback in 3-2 win over Inter in Italian Super Cup final
It was the fifth time in the last seven years that the competition was played in Saudi Arabia
Updated 38 min 45 sec ago
AP
RIYADH: It took exactly one week on the job for Sergio Conceicao to earn his first trophy as AC Milan’s coach — with two comeback wins no less.
Milan came back from two goals down to beat city rivals Inter Milan 3-2 and win the Italian Super Cup on Monday.
Rafael Leao came off the bench and played a part in all three of Milan’s goals from Theo Hernandez, Christian Pulisic and Tammy Abraham.
Conceicao was hired to replace the fired Paulo Fonseca last Monday and also led the Rossoneri to a comeback win over Juventus in the semifinals.
This time, Lautaro Martinez and Mehdi Taremi put Inter ahead with goals on either side of halftime.
Leao then earned a foul that resulted in a free kick which Hernandez curled in around Inter’s wall.
Then Pulisic finished off a counterattack by shooting through Augusto’s legs on a play that began with Leao.
For the third goal, Leao provided a through ball for Pulisic, who crossed to Abraham, who tapped into an empty net in stoppage time.
It was the fifth time in the last seven years that the competition was played in Saudi Arabia, and the second year of an expanded four-team format.
A throw-in led to Inter’s opener as Taremi fed the ball inside the area to Lautaro, who cut back before shooting through Hernandez’s legs on Inter’s only real chance of the half.
Taremi, who was playing in place of the injured Marcus Thuram, finished off a counterattack right after the break.
Milan play their first Serie A match under Conceicao against Cagliari on Saturday. The Rossoneri are in eighth place but will return to league action with much more confidence.
US says anti-Daesh operation in Iraq kills coalition soldier
US officials have said Daesh is hoping to stage a comeback in Syria following the fall in December of Syrian President Bashar Assad
Updated 50 min 42 sec ago
Reuters
WASHINGTON: The US military said on Monday operations against Daesh in Iraq over the past week led to the death of a non-US coalition soldier and wounded two other non-US personnel.
It also detailed operations in Syria against Daesh militants led by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, including one that resulted in the capture of what the US military’s Central Command said was an Daesh attack cell leader.
US officials have said Daesh is hoping to stage a comeback in Syria following the fall in December of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Saudi Interior Ministry confirms ban on transferring or publishing security surveillance camera recordings
Anyone who violates the rule will be punished with a fine of SR20,000 ($5,327), interior ministry says
Updated 06 January 2025
Arab News
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry confirmed that the provisions of the “Use of Security Surveillance Cameras” law prohibit the transfer or publication of security surveillance camera recordings.
Security surveillance camera recordings can only be transferred or published with the approval of the ministry or the Presidency of State Security, based on a judicial order, or at the request of an investigating authority.
The ministry explained that anyone who violates this rule will be punished with a fine of SR20,000 ($5,327).
This includes anyone who transfers or publishes recordings in violation of the law or damages or vandalizes security surveillance camera systems or recordings.
How Israeli raids on northern Gaza hospitals compound the enclave’s healthcare emergency
Kamal Adwan Hospital was raided by Israeli forces on Dec. 27, dealing a fresh blow to Gaza’s already devastated health system
Israel alleged the facility was a “Hamas terrorist stronghold,” detaining its director Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, patients, and other staff
Updated 06 January 2025
Sherouk Zakaria
DUBAI: For months, prominent Palestinian pediatrician Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya had been pleading with the international community to protect medical staff and patients at the Kamal Adwan Hospital amid repeated Israeli assaults.
As one of just two functioning hospitals in northern Gaza, Kamal Adwan served as a lifeline for thousands in need of medical assistance under an Israeli siege that has blocked the delivery of food, shelter materials, and medical supplies since Oct. 5.
However, the pleas of Dr. Abu Safiya, the hospital’s director, fell silent on Dec. 27 when Israeli forces stormed the facility and detained him along with patients and other medical staff, alleging it was a “Hamas terrorist stronghold.”
Since early October 2024, Israel has intensified its siege on northern Gaza, mounting a series of operations intended to root out Hamas fighters. The raid on Kamal Adwan knocked the hospital out of action, dealing a fresh blow to northern Gaza’s already devastated healthcare system.
Since early October 2024, Israel has intensified its siege on northern Gaza. (AFP)
The following day, health officials said Israeli forces targeted Al-Awda Hospital, severely damaging the last functioning facility in northern Gaza. The hospital had been overflowing with patients after the Indonesian Hospital was reportedly put out of service earlier in the month.
On Dec. 29, the Palestinian health ministry said Israeli strikes had left two facilities in Gaza City — Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital and Al-Wafaa Hospital — with significant damage.
“Hospitals have once again become battlegrounds, reminiscent of the destruction of the health system in Gaza City earlier this year,” the World Health Organization said in a statement.
Israel has long accused Hamas of using civilian hospitals for military purposes, employing patients and medical staff as human shields — a claim that the Palestinian militant group that governs Gaza has consistently denied.
In its latest raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital, the Israeli military said its troops had killed 20 “terrorists” and detained 240 others, including Dr. Abu Safiya on suspicion of being “a Hamas terrorist operative.”
Israel has long accused Hamas of using civilian hospitals for military purposes. (AFP)
On Friday, Israel confirmed it was holding Dr. Abu Safiya, but did not specify where. In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said he was “currently being investigated by Israeli security forces” as he was suspected of being a “terrorist” and for “holding a rank” in Hamas.
Israel launched its military operation in Gaza in retaliation for the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and saw around 250 taken hostage, including many foreign nationals.
The air and ground campaign in Gaza has caused the death of some 45,400 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, and left 108,000 wounded, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Around 100 Israelis remain captive in Gaza, but a third are believed to be dead.
Kamal Adwan Hospital has been the target of around 50 recorded attacks on or near the facility since early October 2024, according to the WHO.
The latest raid left the hospital’s laboratory, surgical unit, engineering and maintenance department, operating theater, and medical store severely damaged by fire.
Healthcare workers around the world joined an online solidarity campaign. (AFP)
Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesperson, denied troops had entered the facility or started the fire.
“While IDF troops were not in the hospital, a small fire broke out in an empty building inside the hospital that is under control,” he said. A preliminary investigation had found “no connection” between the military operation and the fire, he added.
Dr. Abu Safiya’s detention has sparked global outcry as UN agencies, rights groups, and non-governmental organizations demanded his immediate release.
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A viral image of Dr. Abu Safiya, believed to depict his final moments before his arrest, shows him walking alone, dressed in his white lab coat, among the rubble of a devastated street towards Israeli tanks.
Healthcare workers around the world joined an online solidarity campaign, prompting the launch of a petition calling on the US to pressure Israel to release Dr. Abu Safiya and stop targeting hospitals, medical staff, and patients.
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, urged global medical professionals to cut ties with Israel in protest at the arrest.
“For each Palestinian life that should and could have been saved in Gaza, we have been put to the test. And we have failed, over and over,” she posted on X. “We must not fail again. All of us must do all we can to save Dr. Abu Safiya.”
According to the Palestinian health ministry, more than 1,000 medical workers have been killed and more than 300 detained since the war between Israel and Hamas began on Oct. 7, 2023, while some 130 ambulances have been knocked out of action.
Israel launched its military operation in Gaza in retaliation for the Oct. 7, 2023. (AFP)
The whereabouts of Dr. Abu Safiya and his staff remains unknown, although several released detainees told CNN he was being held at the Sde Teiman military base — a facility close to the Gaza border notorious for allegations of abuse, which Israel denies.
Dr. Abu Safiya rose to prominence for documenting the challenges facing healthcare professionals in Gaza since the war began, including shortages of staff and medical supplies.
In an earlier raid on Oct. 25, he was briefly detained and questioned after refusing multiple orders to leave Kamal Adwan Hospital. The Israeli army had stormed the facility, detained many patients and 57 hospital staff, according to Gaza health authorities.
During that Israeli operation, Dr. Abu Safiya’s 15-year-old son was reportedly killed in a drone strike at the hospital gate. Dr. Abu Safiya insisted on continuing to tend to his patients, and continued to do so even after he was wounded in an attack on Nov. 23.
“We are suffering from a severe shortage of doctors, especially surgeons,” he said at the time. “Right now, we only have pediatricians — it is a huge challenge to work under these circumstances.”
On Dec. 31, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights published a report detailing the destruction of Gaza’s healthcare facilities. The report found that 27 hospitals and 12 other medical facilities had suffered 136 strikes between Oct. 7, 2023 and June 30, 2024.
The UN warned that the strikes caused “significant damage to, if not the complete destruction of, civilian infrastructure,” and pushed the healthcare system in the Palestinian territory to the “brink of total collapse.”
In its report, the UN labeled Israel’s claim that Gaza’s hospitals are being used by Hamas for military purposes as “vague” and “insufficient.” (AFP)
Just 17 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remain partially functional, according to the WHO’s latest figures.
In its report, the UN labeled Israel’s claim that Gaza’s hospitals are being used by Hamas for military purposes as “vague” and “insufficient.”
A day earlier, UN human rights experts said the backing of allies has enabled Israel to continue committing “genocidal acts” and defying international law. They stressed that Israel needed to be held accountable for “inflicting maximum suffering” on Palestinian civilians, particularly in northern Gaza.
They noted the siege, “coupled with expanding evacuation orders, appears intended to permanently displace the local population as a precursor to Gaza’s annexation.”
Israel said the siege was aimed at preventing Hamas from regrouping.
As ceasefire talks continue, the Palestinian health ministry has called on the international community to intervene to protect healthcare professionals, secure the release of detainees, and facilitate a safe environment in which the sick and injured can receive treatment.
The closure of Kamal Adwan Hospital leaves a population of some 75,000 Palestinians in the north without access to medical care — a crisis exacerbated by bitter winter conditions and shortages of food, medicine, and shelter.
More than 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians have been repeatedly displaced, according to aid agencies, with many now enduring winter temperatures in squalid tent camps, often flooded by heavy rain, in south and central Gaza.
For those who have remained in northern Gaza, hospitals are no longer an option for shelter.
“As if the relentless bombing and the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza were not enough, the one sanctuary where Palestinians should have felt safe in fact became a death trap,” Volker Turk, the UN human rights chief, said in a statement.
The closure of Kamal Adwan Hospital leaves a population of some 75,000 Palestinians in the north without access to medical care. (AFP)
Health officials say the loss of Kamal Adwan Hospital, in particular, will leave civilians in northern Gaza without treatment at the very moment they are most vulnerable.
In a post on X, Palestinian surgeon Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta said hypothermia, malnutrition, and injury had become the triad of death.
“This means that people will die of hypothermia at higher temperatures, will starve to death much quicker, and will succumb to less severe wounds.”
