Topspin intros InfiniBand switch

While the InfiniBand industry continues to shrink, a start-up recently introduced an entry-level clustering device that uses the next-generation bus.

Topspin’s introduction of the Topspin 90 Switched Computing System follows Banderacom’s announcement that it will refocus on Gigabit Ethernet silicon instead.

The Topspin 90 Switched Computing System interconnects InfiniBand-clustered servers with Gigabit Ethernet networks and Fibre Channel storage-area networks. It is similar to a switch Omegaband had planned before it ceased doing business two months ago.

The Topspin 90 is a 1U-high rack-mountable switch that has as many as 16 InfiniBand ports. These ports can be intermixed in a variety of configurations with Gigabit Ethernet or 2G bit/sec Fibre Channel ports.

A starting configuration consists of 12 ports of 10G bit/sec InfiniBand. Customers can add four additional InfiniBand ports, two Fibre Channel ports or four Gigabit Ethernet ports by simply inserting an expansion module.

The Topspin 90 has a management interface in common with Topspin’s larger product, the Topspin 360. It can be managed from a graphical interface or a command-line interface using the serial port and Telnet or SSH. It is also SNMP-manageable.

A 12-port Topspin 90 starts at $12,000 and is available now.