Infiniband

Overheard - What does an Infiniband server switch look like?

Product manager Robert Stromer demos Cisco SFS 7000 Series InfiniBand server switches.

Brock, from Saint Paul, MN shows off a new cluster from Penguin Computing - including the storage controller and the InfiniBand switch.

Overheard - Replacing Infiniband with 10GE

Sure, it’s proven, and a lot of people use it. But like many proprietary technologies, it also has some unappealing characteristics. It demands specialized expertise. It’s not always as fast as advertised. It’s not completely reliable. It certainly doesn’t work and play well with others. Yes, we are talking about InfiniBand. Dan Tuchler, Incoming: 10 Gigabit Ethernet for HPC

When it comes to reducing capital and operating expenses, one infrastructure is simply better than two — or more — and the HPC environment is no exception. High-performance computing clusters that use an InfiniBand interconnect also use Ethernet. Ethernet is necessary for user and storage connectivity, and for the management network that orchestrates the cluster. Replacing the InfiniBand interconnect with 10GE to create a single, all-inclusive infrastructure will cut hardware and power costs, and simplify manageability. And, that infrastructure combines high performance with low power needs and a sufficiently low latency for many HPC applications, making it an excellent fit for technical and budget requirements.