Apr 28 2010
Mellanox® Technologies, Ltd. (NASDAQ: MLNX) (TASE: MLNX), a leading supplier of high-performance, end-to-end connectivity solutions for data center servers and storage systems, today announced the BridgeX SDK, a comprehensive software development platform that complements Mellanox’s BridgeX gateway silicon device and reference design enabling OEMs to augment their existing switch platforms with virtual and converged I/O utilizing T-11 compliant Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) functionality.
The Mellanox BridgeX SDK compliments the company’s existing 10GigE data center switches and enables switch OEMs to build next generation data center switching platforms utilizing FCoE with critical future-proofing, rapid time-to-market, power and cost saving advantages. According to Dell’Oro, the market for FCoE is estimated to grow to approximately 2.7 million ports in 2014.
The BridgeX gateway silicon device delivers a cost and power optimized converged I/O solution that can be easily integrated into OEM’s 10GigE switch platforms to enable 1/2/4/8 Gb/s Fibre Channel (FC) port connectivity to the FC Storage Area Networks (SAN). Since they are T-11 compliant FCoE Converged Network Adapters (CNA), the Mellanox ConnectX® EN line of CNAs, can be used on the servers to deliver converged I/O. Systems built with the BridgeX SDK and gateway silicon device can offer a unique low-cost, high-performance solution that reduces the number of server adapter cards, cables and network infrastructure by consolidating storage and Ethernet traffic onto a single network, while preserving the end-user’s Fibre Channel management software and their existing data center storage hardware investments.
“While the value of FCoE as a converged I/O solution over 10GigE has been established, the industry continues to be riddled with high cost and proprietary solutions, inhibiting adoption,” said Sanjay Manney, director of product marketing at Mellanox Technologies. “By utilizing the BridgeX SDK, Ethernet switch and blade switch OEMs can roll out feature-rich, cost and power competitive converged I/O solutions that will enable data centers to retain the value of their Fibre Channel storage and Ethernet systems and their respective operational expertise.”
“While FCoE will be an important I/O virtualization technology, customers have few choices in top-of-rack switches that can connect to existing FC SANs,” said Joe Skorupa, Research VP, Gartner, Inc. “Solutions that enable more vendors to provide FCoE-to-FC bridging in top-of-rack switches will increase customer choices, increase competition and help adoption of FCoE.”
The BridgeX SDK enables virtual and converged I/O features such as instantiation of virtual HBAs over FCoE CNAs and mapping them to T-11 NPIV compliant FC ports facing the SAN. OEMs will be able to support the configuration of downlink ports to Ethernet or FC ports or a mix of them to deliver deployment flexibility and future proofing. The BridgeX device supports T-11 FCF (Fibre Channel Forwarder) features that can be implemented in conjunction with software implemented on FCoE-aware Ethernet switches.
Source: http://www.mellanox.com/