QLogic SilverStorm Series Supports IBM iDataPlex System

By DE Editors

QLogic Corp. (Aliso Viejo, CA) announced that its QLogic SilverStorm 9000 Series InfiniBand directors and switches are now qualified with IBM iDataPlex and System Cluster 1350 systems for HPC environments.

IBM iDataPlex is a new category of server that increases compute density while decreasing energy consumption and associated data center costs for Internet-scale computing. QLogic InfiniBand switches provide a solution for IBM-based HPC networks, database clusters, and grid-utility computing applications.

QLogic SilverStorm 9000 Series multi-protocol fabric directors support high performance computing, database clustering, and grid-utility computing applications. The SilverStorm 9000 Series maximizes cluster and grid computing interconnect performance while simplifying and reducing data center costs. The director leverages the latest InfiniBand-based technologies to provide industry-leading port densities, throughput performance, and ultra low latency.

In a second announcement, QLogic Corp. also unveiled the 9008V 8Gb Fibre Channel I/O blade for the QLogic SANbox 9000 modular chassis switch, along with a road map that includes support for 16Gb Fibre Channel. A fully configured SANbox 9000 now provides SAN administrators with up to 256 8Gb switch ports, plus all the rack density and performance needed to support hundreds of server and storage nodes -- including blade servers and virtual machines.

QLogic's SANbox 9000 business development is to be focused on small to medium enterprises (SMEs), where the product has a proven track record of benefiting SAN administrators who need an affordable, long-term solution to build large fabrics.

The new SANbox 9008V 8Gb Fibre Channel I/O Blade can be deployed non-disruptively by existing customers in their current chassis alongside previous-generation 9000 Series blades. Offering 16 8Gb ports per unit, the 9008V is backward-compatible with 4Gb and 2Gb legacy devices, allowing old and new customers to migrate smoothly and cost-effectively to higher SAN speeds. The 9008V release will also provide full support of the next-generation Internet standard (IPv6).

Plus, the SANbox 9000 Series Switches are a new class of core switch that represents a sane alternative to quarter million dollar director switches. The SANbox 9000 Series is designed for cost-sensitive, business-critical, open system environments that require ultra-high density, fast performance and intelligent switching for their data center core.

The SANbox 9000 architecture represents a number of industry firsts: a 4U modular chassis for a smaller footprint and cost-effective scalability, customer-replaceable units (CRUs) to eliminate costly service calls and a 10Gb core-to-edge "backbone" enabling seamless SAN performance scaling in multi-switch environments.

For further details, go to QLogic.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company's website.