* When linking data center equipment to high-speed pipes, Ethernet is sometimes on the outside looking in
Data center networks often exclude Ethernet
By Phil Hochmuth
It’s not often that Ethernet is on the outside of an emerging network technology market. But in linking some data center equipment to high-speed pipes, Ethernet sometimes has its nose pressed to the glass door, looking in.
For data center network managers, server interconnect technology falls into two distinct camps. For most, Ethernet, the world standard for networked computers, is how Windows, Linux, Unix and mainframe boxes are plugged in and accessed. But in the rarefied realm of high-performance data center clustering, technologies such as InfiniBand and some niche, proprietary interconnect technologies, such as Myricom’s Myrinet, still have a strong hold.
Over the past several years, InfiniBand switches have emerged as an alternative for some users. Makers such as Voltaire and Infinicon came to market with high-speed clustering switches that connect servers with specialized host bus adapters (HBA). These systems can provide as much as 30Gbps of throughput, with latency as low as the sub-200-nanosec range. (By comparison, latency in standard Ethernet gear is sometimes measured in microseconds — one millionth of a second — rather than nanoseconds, which are one-billionth of a second). This server-to-switch technology was so attractive that Cisco purchased InfiniBand switch start-up TopSpin a little more than a year ago for $250 million.
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