NETWORKS

RNA MVX 2.5 and Mellanox ConnectX-2 Combine to Boost Performance in Virtualized Servers up to 12X

RNA Networks has announced that it will team with Mellanox to demonstrate the dramatic performance improvements achievable through memory virtualization at VMworld 2010, August 30th through September 2nd at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. The demonstration will show how the newly introduced RNA MVX 2.5 combines with Mellanox ConnectX-2 40Gb/s InfiniBand adapters to accelerate performance of applications running in VMware vSphere up to 12X. The demonstration will be conducted at the Mellanox booth #1412.

"Server memory and storage throughput are key constraints in managing utilization, service levels and performance in virtualized environments," said Rod Butters, CMO and VP of products for RNA Networks. "Memory virtualization provided by RNA Networks' MVX 2.5 breaks through these constraints, setting the stage for higher utilization, better quality of service and faster performance on-demand."

Mellanox ConnectX-2 adapters and RNA MVX software combine to create memory virtualization -- a new technology that consolidates memory across servers into a single, distributed memory service. Called a memory cloud, this service can both extend server memory and speed up storage for performance improvements of up to 12X in virtualized environments.

"Memory virtualization enables startling performance improvements," said Butters. "Relative to the fastest alternative, SSDs, memory virtualization can accelerate applications up to twelve times faster in virtual environments. ConnectX-2, with its support for 40Gb/s InfiniBand and 10Gb/s Ethernet deployments, helps us achieve the maximum gains from this technology to provide the greatest benefits in utilization and performance."

The memory cloud can extend server memory during peaks in memory demand for improved quality of service at high levels of memory overcommit. This supports higher levels of memory utilization throughout a virtualized environment. The memory cloud can also accelerate IO throughput by leveraging memory across servers as a storage cache in the compute tier. This brings active data closer to applications while offloading storage. As a result, the memory cloud can dramatically increase virtual server performance, maximizing the benefits and utilization of existing processing and memory resources.

"Memory virtualization is another technology that demonstrates how network infrastructure can have a tremendous impact not only on application performance, but also on getting the highest overall return on infrastructure investments," said John Monson, vice president of marketing at Mellanox Technologies. "MVX leverages the full capabilities of ConnectX-2 adapters and the accelerated network to maximize memory utilization in virtualized environments."