Newcomer Ethernet specialist Chelsio Communications Inc. has introduced a card that can handle 10-Gbit Ethernet traffic at wire speed with 10-microsecond latency.
The PCI-X card, launched at the Grid Today 2004 conference in Philadelphia, is based on a single-engine ASIC dubbed the Terminator, with a TCP offload engine optimized for grid computing and data center applications.
The T110 card handles full TCP offload and can offer full-duplex performance at 10-Gbit/second speeds, the company said. It is designed for fiber short- and long-reach applications with XPak transceiver modules but also can handle coaxial interconnect utilizing Marvell Semiconductors' CX-4 interface.
Chelsio's founders came from SGI's Protocol Engines Inc. subsidiary and were responsible for designing the SGI Origin supercomputer. Consequently, they understand the bottlenecks of using Ethernet framing as a channel-based alternative to interconnects like Infiniband. They also learned about the value of retaining standard Layer 4 protocols such as Transmission Control Protocol.
"You can develop a wonderful alternative technology, but if it doesn't fit the framework of standards, it doesn't gain a critical mass," said chief executive officer Kianoosh Naghshineh.
The team decided to offer a deliverable as a host bus adapter rather than a chip set, since most server and storage OEMs are familiar with HBA. Nevertheless, Chelsio says it has already entertained purchase requests for its Terminator ASIC. Terminator can handle 1 million concurrent TCP sessions, although the card is configured for no more than 64,000, indicating the future scalability of the architecture. Terminator has more than 5 million equivalent gates, implemented in a 0.13-micron process.
Discover the benefits of scalable backbone and network services for application and cloud providers.
Network automation is gaining momentum. Here's how you can drive this powerful technology to its full potential.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
