Storage, Communications and Management Functionality Into a Single Chassis From InteliCloud

InteliCloud, a developer and manufacturer of next-generation network equipment, announced the availability of its first product, the InteliCloud 360, which re-imagines network infrastructure by tightly integrating off-the-shelf components with proprietary hardware and software into a single chassis, dramatically simplifying the operation, scalability and overall agility of the network.

Unlike the disparate and complex hardware and software pieces used in conventional virtualized network platforms, the InteliCloud 360 presents a converged Ethernet-based infrastructure capable of carrying a multitude of traditional services, such as voice, video and data, and next-generation Web 2.0 services all originating from a single network.

The benefits of the InteliCloud 360 equipment for Internet service providers (ISPs) include a more than 60 percent reduction in power and space requirements, as well as a three-fold increase in the number of customers served per square foot when compared to today’s market-leading blade and rack mount servers.

“What the iPhone did for mobile telecommunications, InteliCloud 360 is designed to do for the network,” said Ken Hubbard, president and CEO of InteliCloud. “We developed the software and hardware together so they talk to each other more cohesively, opening up the capabilities and cost-efficiencies of a single chassis while reducing dependence on multi-vendor solutions.”

“We believe InteliCloud has designed true next-generation network equipment that ISPs want – installation and management simplicity coupled with unprecedented performance and cost savings,” Hubbard said.

To develop its network server, InteliCloud engineered six distinct technologies made up of several patentable hardware and software components in the areas of energy saving, management system and chassis design for optimum throughput and functionality.

The InteliCloud 360 architecture features a unique patent-pending blade frame input/output structure that removes the 1:1 relationship between services and hardware, enabling all the hardware in the network and/or data center to be available for all services. By virtualizing the network and storage interfaces, an application can move without interruption from blade to blade and chassis to chassis throughout the network. Once the hardware is removed as a bottleneck, service providers can ‘stack’ telephone service, videos, music and cellular service onto a single network, saving more than 50 percent of hardware costs by eliminating idle redundant equipment.
 
“InteliCloud offered us the solution we were looking for,” said Vincent Hirth, CEO of VIRCAS, a provider of streaming HD video and IPTV solutions for TVs and PCs. “Conventional architecture incorporating thousands of servers would’ve been far too costly and a load balancing nightmare.  We would’ve needed 2-3,000 dedicated servers to serve the U.S. alone."

“We are currently testing a new media center product – introducing live TV, TV on demand, movies on demand and gaming on demand – for a cable channel client using just one percent of capacity on a single InteliCloud platform,” Hirth said. “That’s the future for servers.”

With its patent-pending line speed architecture, the InteliCloud 360 can meet the infrastructure, speed and bandwidth needs that customers are requiring from their Internet service, telecommunications, cable, satellite, online gaming, wireless and entertainment providers while addressing power consumption, real estate footprint and management issues.

The InteliCloud 360’s technology-agnostic multipoint solution focuses on the four key elements of a network – processing, storage, communications and management.  The InteliCloud 360 is pre-integrated, easily plugging into existing networks or replacing older networks. All the hardware and software components are provided up front, which enables the InteliCloud 360 to support multiple critical services or applications as an integrated hardware platform.

InteliCloud also provides a simple, common interface to manage the entire server’s simultaneously moving pieces. From a single pane of glass, the hardware, operating systems, virtual environments and applications can be managed and their interdependencies enforced. Software costs are reduced by removing the need for additional management software and other applications.

The InteliCloud 360 will be sold by a direct sales team and through value-added resellers (VARs).  All InteliCloud products carry a three-year warranty. In addition, InteliCloud offers a flexible service-level agreement (SLA) program to meet the needs of its customers.