Blade Network and Voltaire Partnering

BLADE Network Technologies and Voltaire Ltd. have partnered to deliver a highest-density 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) data center switch fabrics.

Based on Voltaire’s Vantage 8500 Layer 2 core switches and BLADE’s RackSwitch G8124 top-of-rack switch, customers relying on ultra low-latency server and CEE-capable storage connectivity can now build flat data center fabrics of more than 3,400 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports with non-blocking, lossless switch capacity of 11.52 Terabits per second.

The massively scalable Voltaire-BLADE solution provides end-to-end latency of 2.4 microseconds. Alternative switching solutions can dramatically impede performance, injecting up to 16x more latency or up to 10 to 40 microseconds. The Voltaire-BLADE solution is also optimized with Voltaire Messaging Accelerator (VMA) software for Ethernet which reduces application latency even further, creating a measurable competitive advantage for customers in fields such as high frequency trading.

The solution also leverages additional software offerings from both Voltaire and BLADE to enable management of virtualized data centers and cloud environments. Voltaire’s new Unified Fabric Manager (UFM) 3.0 software orchestrates end-to-end virtual machine connectivity and centrally manages multi-vendor Ethernet fabric resources in the unified environment consisting of Voltaire’s Vantage 8500 and BLADE’s RackSwitch G8124. This solution also features BLADE’s unique VMready for virtualization-aware networking that automatically moves network policies as Virtual Machines move. The solution supports FCoE/CEE standards so customers can build the industry’s most scalable converged data and storage networks.

The combined solution is cross-certified by Voltaire and BLADE for availability through leading data center server OEMs. The two companies maintain long-standing OEM relationships with data center leaders such as IBM, HP, NEC and SGI.

"Unified fabrics and flat network topologies designed for end-to-end performance hold great promise for enterprises seeking to achieve top efficiency for their critical business applications and server virtualization environments," said Lucinda Borovick, research vice president, Datacenter Networks, IDC. "Datacenter customers benefit with the ability to choose the most effective platform for the environment when providers such as BLADE Network Technologies and Voltaire jointly validate best practice designs."

"Cross-certifying Voltaire’s core switch and software with BLADE’s top-of-rack switch creates an end-to-end solution with unsurpassed port density and ultra low latency that enables customers to leverage Ethernet economics without sacrificing performance or scalability," said Ronnie Kenneth, chairman and CEO of Voltaire. "Moreover, using our new Unified Fabric Manager software, enterprise data center managers can automatically configure Voltaire and BLADE fabric resources as services are added or mobilized across the data center."

"We are pleased to team up with Voltaire to deliver a massively scalable and extremely high-density networking environment for enterprises seeking the fastest end-to-end network performance combined with the cost of ownership advantages only possible with a multi-vendor solution from trusted providers," said Vikram Mehta, president and CEO of BLADE Network Technologies. "Fabric-based computing is the wave of the future, and now we are delivering a unified network fabric that combines the essential network elements from two companies with vast Fortune 500 enterprise experience in scale-out data center networking and high-performance computing."

About the Voltaire-BLADE 3,400-Port
Intelligent 10GbE Switch Fabric Solution
State-of-the-art data center networks must scale from hundreds to a few thousand ports, driving the requirement for high-capacity, non-blocking 10 Gigabit Ethernet switches. The Voltaire-BLADE solution delivers the unique capability to enable simplified, flat, scale-out fabrics. By clustering up to twelve Voltaire Vantage 8500 core switches together with BLADE RackSwitch G8124 top-of-rack switches, a customer can expand a data center to many thousands of servers while preserving the same efficiency and price-per-port, without degrading performance or latency like traditional hierarchical network designs.

Availability
Voltaire’s Vantage 8500 switch and VMA software are available now from Voltaire, and BLADE’s RackSwitch and VMready are available now from BLADE Network Technologies. Voltaire’s Unified Fabric Manager 3.0 software is available at the end of Q2 2010.