## NVIDIA Performance Reference Architecture: An Introduction

Artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads are evolving at unprecedented speed. Enterprises today require infrastructure that can scale elastically, provide consistent performance, and ensure secure multi-tenant operation. NVIDIA’s Performance Reference Architecture (PRA), built on HGX platforms with Shared NVSwitch GPU Passthrough Virtualization, delivers precisely this capability.

This is the introductory blog in a multi part series. In this blog, we explain **why PRA is critical** for modern enterprises and service providers, highlight the benefits of adoption, and outline the key steps required to successfully deploy and support the PRA design/architecture.