The task of monitoring networks requires reading all the data packets as they cross the network, which “requires a lot of data parallelism,” Wenji said.

Wenji has built a prototype at Fermilab to demonstrate the feasibility of a GPU-based network monitor, using a Nvidia M2070 GPU and an off-the-shelf NIC (network interface card) to capture network traffic. The system could easily be expanded with additional GPUs, he said.

via Super Computing 13: GPUs would make terrific network monitors – Network World.