NETWORKS

Intelligent 10GbE NICs and Low-latency Switches Hit Ethernet Adoption Crossover Price Point; Will be Central to 10GbE Joint Marketing Initiative: NetXen and Force10 Networks today announced a joint market development initiative aimed at accelerating deployment of low-cost, high-performance 10 Gigabit Ethernet technology in the data center. The initiative will include joint marketing and support programs for data center managers showing that 10GbE is now ready to be the unifying technology in high-performance, flexible and scalable data centers thanks to the availability of off-the-shelf 10GbE-enabled server, high-density 10GbE switch, and Intelligent NIC products. To demonstrate the emergence of a viable 10GbE ecosystem in the data center, the two companies will highlight the availability of off-the-shelf 10GbE-enabled equipment from major vendors. The featured 10GbE-enabled products are the high-performance NetXen Intelligent 10GbE NICs (Network Interface Card) for blade, rack and tower servers and the low-latency Force10 Networks S2410 data center switch that provides 24 line-rate 10GbE ports. Both products have breakthrough price points that put 10GbE at the traditional crossover point for widespread adoption of next generation Ethernet products. The goal of the initiative is to establish 10GbE as a foundational technology for the agile data center, one that can support growing bandwidth demands, virtualization and security initiatives, and enable efficient scaling of performance. An example would be data centers using arrays of blade servers with NetXen Intelligent 10GbE NICs that can be programmed in-system to support existing and emerging TCP/IP, RDMA, iSCSI, and security protocols. "With the emergence of these new families of high-performance, low-cost 10GbE switches, and Intelligent 10GbE NICs, we have finally reached the breakthrough price points that enable adoption in mainstream applications," said Vikram Karvat, vice president of marketing at NetXen. "This is the point where Ethernet economics kick in and the industry begins the shift from 1GbE to 10GbE. This shift should accelerate because additional features embedded in products like the Intelligent 10GbE NIC add new capabilities such as I/O virtualization, lower the total cost of ownership by extending product life cycles, and simplify data center management. Now that our Intelligent 10GbE NICs are available for mainstream servers and Force10's S2410 switches deliver a cost effective interconnect point, we are ready to begin the transition. To promote the arrival of affordable 10GbE in the data center, NetXen and Force10 Networks are now working together to promote 10GbE technology, including joint marketing activities, beta site programs and reference selling efforts to inform data center managers that complete, low-cost, production-ready 10GbE solutions are off-the-drawing board and ready for installation today in the data center." "A migration in the data center to a 10GbE switching backbone will provide a number of key advantages," says Andrew Feldman, vice president of marketing at Force10 Networks. "For the first time, the price, installation and maintenance advantages of commercial Ethernet products are available at a performance level capable of not only supporting the increased traffic loads expected from the latest generation of 10GbE-enabled servers but at speeds that will support the unification of the data center backbone under the Ethernet technology banner. This enables higher performance data centers that are simpler to configure, maintain and support. But availability of products at breakthrough pricing is not enough. It is incumbent upon the vendor community to show that the total 10GbE ecosystem is ready, too. That is why we are pleased to be working with NetXen to promote the adoption of 10GbE-enabled products. Their low-cost, high-performance NetXen Intelligent NIC is a key enabler for high-performance servers in the backbone of the data center. We will be making joint sales calls, providing information about production-ready network equipment and making presentations that will help educate the industry on the advantages of a unified 10GbE backbone infrastructure." NetXen established a new price/performance benchmark with the introduction earlier this year of the first low-cost, high-performance Intelligent 10GbE NIC cards that support dual 10GbE and 1GbE links with native PCI Express (PCIe) interfaces. The Intelligent 10GbE NIC products are a cost-effective solution for high-performance servers in the agile data center. Because they are fully programmable, NetXen NICs are field upgradeable to support a wide variety of protocols including TCP/IP, RDMA, iSCSI, and security. This makes them an affordable, scalable solution for the agile data center. The agile data center is a concept that defines a flexible, adaptable high-performance datacenter incorporating high-performance servers, switches, and linked with 10GbE technology. Force10 Networks is a pioneer in developing and deploying resilient Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet switching and routing systems. The Force10 S-Series S2410 switch features industry leading latency, port density and line-rate performance. With 24 10GbE ports in a 19" rack-mountable 1U chassis the S2410 sets a new performance standard with only 300 nanosecond latency and a price per port of only $854, well below the industry average of $2,900 per port.