Blade Network and IBM Team Up

BLADE Network Technologies, Inc., in data center networking, announced its new 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch for IBM BladeCenter, the industry’s first converged networking switch for blade servers. The new 24-port all-10G or 1/10G BLADE switch equips network environments to support BLADE’s Cloud Ready Network Architecture with a single fabric for data and storage, 100 Gigabits per second (Gbps) of data center connectivity and up to 480Gbps of extremely low-latency bi-directional throughput.

The BLADE switch performs at 10G line-rate throughput with no packet loss as required by Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) and Converged Enhanced Ethernet (CEE) standards for open unified networking. BLADE’s newest switch for IBM BladeCenter consumes less power than a standard light bulb – up to 75 percent less than external switches – and will support BLADE’s SmartConnect with VMready software for the dynamic migration of ‘live’ virtual machines in Q3 2009. Hybrid 1/10G server and uplink connectivity protects investments in existing Gigabit Ethernet servers and uplinks so data centers can migrate to 10 Gigabit Ethernet as requirements demand.

The new BLADE switch will be showcased for the first time at BLADE’s booth at Interop, May 18-21, 2009, in Las Vegas.

"IBM’s work with BLADE has resulted in world-class networking products for our BladeCenter customers, including BLADE’s industry-first blade switch for converged data and storage networks," said Alex Yost, vice president, IBM Systems & Technology Group. "BLADE’s new 10GbE switch for IBM BladeCenter provides our clients with the ultimate investment protection, while helping them reduce operating and capital expenses."

"Our new BLADE switch enables enterprises to take an open approach to unifying their data and storage networks without requiring an over-engineered solution that calls for them to rip out and replace their existing data center infrastructures," said Vikram Mehta, President and CEO, BLADE Network Technologies. "BLADE, one of the industry’s top three providers of 10 Gigabit Ethernet switches*, has provided the essential data center networking for almost one million IBM servers to date. Now, our new 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch for IBM BladeCenter enables enterprises to deploy a Cloud Ready network while reducing switch costs by up to 50 percent, cabling costs by up to 90 percent and energy costs by up to 75 percent, along with an easy transition from 1G to 10G Ethernet."

BLADE’s new BNT 10-port 10G Ethernet Switch Module for IBM BladeCenter (H/HT) combines Cloud Ready network performance with an unsurpassed set of ‘Virtual, Cooler and Easier’advantages:

Cloud Ready Networking:

• Simple firmware update for open FCoE/CEE unified networking that includes support for priority-based flow control, enhanced transmission selection, bandwidth allocation per priority group, Fibre Channel initialization protocol, end-point discovery and jumbo frames for Fibre Channel payloads.
• Ten external SFP+ uplinks combine with 14 internal ports for up to 480Gbps of extremely low-latency bi-directional throughput.
• For those needing support for existing blades with Gigabit Ethernet, the BLADE switch supports either Gigabit or 10 Gigabit Ethernet for seamless migrations.
• Up to 50 percent less expensive than data center networks implemented using external 10GbE switches.
• Up to 800G of full-duplex, low-latency uplink bandwidth eliminates the need for InfiniBand in HPC clusters.  With support for four switches per chassis, a BLADE switch environment is capable of up to 1.92 Tbps bi-directional throughput.
• Pricing at well under $500 per port enables mainstream adoption of 10 Gigabit Ethernet.

Virtual:

• Planned support for BLADE’s SmartConnect and VMready network virtualization software along with IBM Open Fabric Manager will enable seamless integration into Virtual Machine environments with dynamic policy migration for live VM mobility.
• Easy transition to FCoE/CEE converged networks that are far less complex than Cisco Nexus/DCE Unified Computing Networks.
  
  Cooler:
  • Power consumption equivalent to a standard light bulb.

Easier:

• Future-proof investment protection for data centers that are transitioning from Gigabit to 10 Gigabit Ethernet servers and uplinks, enabling an easy transition to 10GbE by simply replacing uplink transceivers.
• Support for SFP+ and Direct Attach Cables (twinax cables) reduces cabling costs and infrastructure complexity by up to 90 percent.
• Full Layer 3 support for OSPF and BGP routing at no additional cost and seamless interoperability with Cisco core networks.

"The vast majority of organizations in North America are making real and lasting changes in their data center architecture. Customers are choosing networking products that support virtualized data center environments and provide a compelling total cost of ownership analysis," said Lucinda Borovick, Research Vice President, Datacenter Networks for IDC. "BLADE’s new switch delivers the FCoE-ready 10 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity designed for cloud-ready I/O-intensive converged networking environments."

BLADE’s BNT 10-port 10G Ethernet Switch Module is available from IBM in June (Part number: 46C7191) for IBM BladeCenter H/HT.