# Data processing unit

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Programmable electronic component

 [SolidRun](/source/SolidRun)'s SolidNet OCP-8K SmartNIC

A **data processing unit** (**DPU**) is a programmable [computer processor](/source/Processor_(computing)) that tightly integrates a general-purpose [CPU](/source/CPU) with [network interface](/source/Network_interface_controller) hardware.[1] They are also occasionally called "**IPUs**" (infrastructure processing unit) or "**SmartNICs**".[2] They can be used in place of traditional [NICs](/source/Network_interface_controller) to relieve the main CPU of complex networking responsibilities and other "infrastructural" duties; although their features vary, they may be used to perform [encryption/decryption](/source/Encryption), serve as a [firewall](/source/Firewall_(computing)), handle [TCP/IP](/source/TCP%2FIP), process [HTTP](/source/HTTP) requests, or even function as a [hypervisor](/source/Hypervisor) or [storage controller](/source/Disk_array_controller).[1][3]

These devices can be attractive to [cloud computing](/source/Cloud_computing) providers whose servers might otherwise spend a significant amount of CPU time on these tasks, cutting into the cycles they can provide to guests.[1] They see use in other kinds of data center environments as well due to their improved power consumption efficiency for routine networking tasks compared to general-purpose CPUs.[4]

## See also

- [Compute Express Link](/source/Compute_Express_Link) (CXL)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-davie-2021_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-davie-2021_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-davie-2021_1-2) [Davie, Bruce](/source/Bruce_Davie) (November 24, 2021). ["SmartNICs, IPUs, DPUs de-hyped: Why and how cloud giants are offloading work from server CPUs"](https://www.theregister.com/AMP/2021/11/24/infrastructure_processing_units/). *[The Register](/source/The_Register)*. Retrieved July 11, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-sharwood-2023_2-0)** [Sharwood, Simon](/source/Bruce_Davie) (May 23, 2023). ["Google Cloud upgrades with next-gen accelerator that embiggens its VMs"](https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/23/google_cloud_c3_ipu/). *[The Register](/source/The_Register)*. Retrieved July 11, 2023. …Infrastructure Processing Unit – the same kind of kit that others call SmartNICs or Data Processing Units…

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Definition of SmartNIC"](https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/smartnic). *[PCMag](/source/PCMag)*. [Ziff Davis](/source/Ziff_Davis). Retrieved July 11, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Leibson, Steven (November 9, 2022). ["DPUs, IPUs, And SmartNICs Save Data Center Power, But You May Only See The Savings In Next-Generation Servers"](https://www.forbes.com/sites/tiriasresearch/2022/11/09/dpus-ipus-and-smartnics-save-data-center-power-but-you-may-only-see-the-savings-in-next-generation-servers/). *[Forbes](/source/Forbes)*. Forbes Media LLC. Retrieved March 4, 2026.

v t e Hardware acceleration Theory Universal Turing machine Parallel computing Distributed computing Applications GPU GPGPU software DirectX Audio Digital signal processing Hardware random number generation Neural processing unit Cryptography TLS Machine vision Custom hardware attack scrypt Networking Data Implementations High-level synthesis C to HDL FPGA ASIC CPLD System on a chip Network on a chip Architectures Dataflow Transport triggered Multicore Manycore Heterogeneous In-memory computing Systolic array Neuromorphic Related Programmable logic Processor design chronology Digital electronics Virtualization Hardware emulation Logic synthesis Embedded systems

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Data processing unit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_processing_unit) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_processing_unit?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.