SCIENCE

Nineteen members of the Ethernet Alliance have joined together in one of its most comprehensive, cutting-edge technology demonstrations yet. The multi-technology interoperability demonstration at SC10 – an international conference for high performance computing (HPC), networking and storage – showcases 10 Gigabit, 40 Gigabit and 100 Gigabit Ethernet equipment transmitting data, storage and RDMA traffic across a live network.

The demonstration will also provide visitors with an inside look at a converged Ethernet network transporting data, storage and RDMA traffic utilizing traditional TCP/IP and new IEEE 802.1 Data Center Bridging (DCB) protocols. RDMA over Ethernet protocols – iWARP and RoCE – will be demonstrated with MPI applications showing real-world usage and benchmarking tools exhibiting throughput and latency of interprocessor communication. Storage over Ethernet protocols – FCoE and iSCSI – will use SCSI I/O generation tools to measure throughput and latency. Technology experts will be on-site to address questions and offer educational materials.

The Ethernet Alliance is pleased to be able to provide a realistic network demonstration featuring equipment from: Amphenol, Broadcom, Brocade, Chelsio Communications, CommScope, Cisco Systems, Dell, Emulex, Force10 Networks, Fulcrum Microsystems, Intel, Ixia, JDSU, Mellanox, NetApp, Panduit, Spirent, and Volex. Leading the testing set-up is The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL), an independent provider of broad-based testing and standards conformance services for the networking industry.

Amphenol: “Amphenol is once again very proud to be participating in the Ethernet Alliance booth at this year’s SC10 conference.” Frank Carroccia, Group General Manager, Amphenol Global Gable Systems Group said, “being a part of the Ethernet Alliance demonstration is a great opportunity for Amphenol to showcase its full line of Ethernet interconnect products interconnect line along with the top companies in the industry is a great opportunity. Amphenol will be demonstrating its latest SFP+ and QSFP+ product lines in the demo along with its full line of high speed interconnect.”

Broadcom: “Broadcom is a strong supporter of the Ethernet Alliance, and we are proud to be participating in this year’s demonstration at the SC10 conference,” said Vinod Lakhani, General Manager, High Speed Controller Business Unit for Broadcom. “We are pleased to be demonstrating the convergence of networking and storage over Ethernet with our 57712 C-NIC. The Ethernet Alliance has been an excellent organization to drive the success and expansion of Ethernet.”

Brocade: “As a longtime member of the Ethernet Alliance, we are pleased to continue our collaboration during SC10,” said Doug Ingraham, Vice President, Data Center Products for Brocade. “Driving innovation in networking has always been part of Brocade’s DNA, and this year’s demonstration is no different. We will be featuring the Brocade 8000, a converged enhanced Ethernet (CEE) and FCoE switch and Brocade CNAs passing Ethernet, DCB, RoCE and iWARP traffic.”

Chelsio Communications: “Chelsio is proud to be a supporter of the Ethernet Alliance, and we are committed to enabling the convergence of networking, storage and clustering over 10Gb Ethernet,” said Chris Calandro, Director of Business Development for Chelsio. “We are pleased to be able to demonstrate iSCSI offload, iWARP RDMA offload, full offload FCoE, and iWARP interoperability within the Ethernet Alliance booth at SC10.”

CommScope: “As a global pioneer in the evolution of network infrastructure solutions, we share the Ethernet Alliance’s commitment to advancing Higher Speed Ethernet (HSE) standards and realizing 40G/100G applications in the data center, which is why it was so important for us to participate in the industry’s first interoperability test,” said George Brooks, Vice President, Data Centers, CommScope. “After exceeding the industry standards for structured fiber cabling at the initial plugfest event, we are excited to join the Ethernet Alliance again for the first public demonstration of next-generation interoperability showing our SYSTIMAX LazrSPEED Solution at SC10 in New Orleans.”

Cisco Systems: “The Cisco Catalyst 6500 Switch is the most widely deployed modular switch in the networking industry, and Cisco takes its commitment to interoperability seriously. We are pleased to showcase our commitment to interoperability and continuous innovation by being the first in the industry with fully interoperable 40GbE technology, and look forward to showing this in action at SC10 in cooperation with Ethernet Alliance,” said Gautam Chanda, Catalyst 6500 Product Manager, at Cisco’s Cloud Switching Systems Technology Group.

Dell: “To ensure interoperability for Dell customers, we work closely with Ethernet Alliance partner companies to deliver a robust infrastructure supporting Data Center Bridging (DCB) and the convergence of Ethernet technologies. At SC10, Dell is demonstrating the interoperability of iSCSI over DCB and 10GbE. Together, these technologies deliver an enterprise-class storage fabric for iSCSI storage solutions,” said Gary Gumanow, EqualLogic Product Manager at Dell. “DCB, as an IEEE industry standard, brings new levels of application predictability, network efficiencies, and quality of service, to Ethernet.”

Emulex: “As we move into the next-generation of 10G and 40G Ethernet, we will see Ethernet with RoCE for low-latency drive the adoption of 10G and 40G Ethernet in applications that require both high-bandwidth and low-latency MPI rates,” said Steve Daheb, Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of Business Development, Emulex. “As a leader in 10G Ethernet converged networking solutions, Emulex is committed to supporting all key standards enabling the next-generation of HPC.”

Force10 Networks: “Data centers face tremendous swings in network traffic and must have a flexible infrastructure that is both easy to implement and manage,” said Arpit Joshipura, newly appointed chief marketing officer, Force10 Networks. “The Ethernet Alliance multi-vendor demonstration at SC10 provides an excellent showcase for 40GbE technology, illustrating a data center network solution that delivers increased bandwidth and decreased complexity. At the same time, it contributes to reduced operational expenses by providing greater availability and manageability in virtualized data center environments.”

Fulcrum Microsystems: "The Ethernet Alliance multi-vendor demonstration at SC10 provides an excellent showcase for our FocalPoint 10GbE switch chips," says Gary Lee Director of Product Marketing for Fulcrum Microsystems. "This year we are pleased to demonstrate our Monaco reference platform that supports many advanced DCB features such as PFC, ETS and DCBx."

Ixia: “Internet expansion and the convergence of Ethernet and fiber channel technologies has led to the development of higher speed Ethernet and data center bridging protocols and products,” said David Schneider, Senior Manager of Market Development. “The Ethernet Alliance, in the form of interoperability plugfests and technology demonstrations such as at SC10, plays an important role in the development and deployment of these technologies. Ixia is pleased to help in this effort with test solutions.”

JDSU: “JDSU is excited to be part of the Ethernet Alliance multi-vendor demo at SC10 that showcases the latest in convergent of Ethernet traffic and storage traffic,” commented Joy Jiang, product manager. “JDSU communications test and measurement solutions, which include industry-leading storage area protocol test solutions, are at SC10 to support partners and demonstrate 10GbE test solution for the next generation data center Ethernet. ”

Mellanox: “Mellanox is pleased to be participating in the Ethernet Alliance multi-vendor network to demonstrate the benefits of RoCE, a low latency and high message rate RDMA over Ethernet technology, running on our Connectx-2 EN adapters,” said Bill Lee, senior product marketing manager at Mellanox Technologies. “Our ConnectX-2 family of adapters is well suited for data centers looking to accelerate their applications.”

NetApp: “Ethernet is emerging as a most capable data center network infrastructure with support for Data Center Bridging and 10G speeds. As a leader in Ethernet storage, NetApp is participating with the Ethernet Association to demonstrate the unique value of converged Ethernet with a live demo of concurrent FCoE and IP storage traffic over a shared Ethernet link, a capability NetApp offers today.”

Panduit: “Panduit is proud to participate with members of the Ethernet Alliance to demonstrate our High Speed Data Transport (HSDT) and Enclosure capabilities that are a part of our optimized, Unified Physical Infrastructure (UPI) data center solutions,” said Vineeth Ram, Vice President, Global Strategic Marketing for Panduit. “This is a great opportunity for Panduit to showcase the performance of our Category 6A QuickNet pre-terminated cables and patch cords, single-mode and multimode fiber SFQ cassettes and MTP ribbon assemblies, as well as racks and cable managers for next generation networking.”

Spirent: “Spirent is proud to support Ethernet Alliance’s live interoperability demonstration of next generation data center technologies,” said Jurrie van den Breekel, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Spirent Communications. “Spirent TestCenter’s 10G, 40G and 100G Ethernet testing solutions loading LAN and SAN traffic adds real-world performance and scale to the live High Speed Ethernet demonstration at SC10.”

Volex: “We are committed to our involvement with the Ethernet Alliance at SC10 to demonstrate the performance of our high-speed cable assembly solutions for Ethernet-based data center systems. The ability to show our solutions interoperating with servers and switches from a range of different vendors is critical for us,” commented Jeff Bierman, Senior Vice President at Volex.

UNH-IOL: "We are pleased to work closely with the Ethernet Alliance, as technical lead, in order to demonstrate product interoperability at SC10,” commented Jeff Lapak, Senior Manager Ethernet technologies, University of New Hampshire – Interoperability Laboratory. “Our goal is to improve technology and networking, fostering both new product innovation and the development of practical products that work seamlessly together."