PLX PCIe Gen3 Switches Supporting Intel Ivy Bridge Processor

PLX Technology, Inc.
announced its ExpressLane PCIe Gen3
switches support and enhance the Intel Corp.‘s Ivy Bridge processor family.

The combination of these switches and PCIe-native Ivy Bridge
processors enable high-performance servers in data centers and cloud
computing environments to realize interconnect design options and
processing power.

"PLX and Intel are pioneers in high-speed interconnect and
industry-standard microprocessors, respectively – both powerful
technologies that have emerged as highly complementary to one
another," said David Raun, president and CEO, PLX. "Intel’s
Ivy Bridge processors and PLX ExpressLane Gen3 switches continue to
set the standard for server performance and design flexibility in
demanding data center and cloud computing markets."

The support of Ivy Bridge processors builds on the company’s
switch portfolios success in servers based on earlier Intel CPUs,
such as the PCIe Gen3-based Xeon Processor E5-2600. Ivy Bridge is the
second generation of Intel’s platforms supporting the PCIe Gen3
standard.

"PCIe has long been an enabling technology for designers
in compute-intensive systems, which have been aided by this powerful
interconnect technology being designed into the Intel Xeon processor
E5-2600 v2 family," said Jim Pappas, director of technology
initiatives, Intel.
"The design community realizes tremendous benefit from the
growing PCIe ecosystem, and Intel applauds PLX’s commitment to this
technology and for developing ingredients such as its PCIe switches."

"The performance-optimizing capabilities of the Ivy Bridge
architecture and PCIe Gen3 give servers another dimension of value in
cloud and data center environments," said Jag Bolaria,
senior analyst, Linley Group, and author of A Guide to Server
Processors. "The combination of native PCIe on several
generations of Intel server processors and high lane and port count
switches continues to drive PCIe adoptions."

In 2004, the company was the first to market with PCIe switches
and has continued to invest in and command the market, resulting in a
portfolio of low-latency, power-efficient switching devices that are
complemented by its software, which enables quick time to market. The
company began sampling the first PCIe Gen3 switching
silicon in 2010 and offers designers worldwide 18 switches ranging
from 12 to 96 lanes, and three to 24 ports. It maintains more than
three-quarters of the worldwide market share for PCIe Gen3 switches.

In addition to being a choice in switches for server,
storage, embedded-system, and communications vendors, it also has
leveraged its PCIe expertise to develop ExpressFabric technology.

It eliminates the need for expensive bridging devices such as
adapter cards used to translate PCIe to IB, Ethernet or FC, therefore
providing a fast, low-latency solution, while offering
lower cost and power.