Networked Computing Infrastructure for the Next Generation Data Center
Multiservice Switches Using InfiniBand Enable Grid Computing (188 KB)
InfiniBand for High Performance, Affordable Storage (427 KB)
I/O Virtualization Gateways
|Voltaire® SR4G High Performance Storage Router
Voltaire® SR4G High Performance Storage Router
Provides High Performance, RDMA–Based SAN Connectivity and Storage Resource Virtualization for InfiniBand Clusters and Grids
Overview
The Voltaire SR4G High Performance Storage Router simplifies the connectivity of InfiniBand fabrics to existing Storage Area Networks (SANs) in order to eliminate I/O bottlenecks, reduce data center costs and improve storage flexibility.
Key Features
- Reduce infrastructure costs by up to 50% by eliminating parallel data and storage networks
- Accelerate application performance with up to 200% improvement in storage bandwidth per server
- Protect investments in existing Fibre Channel storage while Improving storage access
- Increase data center agility by wiring once and creating virtual SAN and LAN interfaces
- Leverage existing IT infrastructure and expertise to provide advanced storage services
Reduce Cost and Complexity
Leveraging InfiniBand's high bandwidth and low latency characteristics and hardware enforced QoS, congestion management and traffic prioritization, the Voltaire SR4G High Performance Storage Router connects Fibre Channel (FC) SANs to a Unified Fabric. By eliminating the need for multiple physical adapters, denser blade and rack servers with smaller footprints and power requirements can be utilized to increase data center scalability and to greatly reduce the cost and complexity associated with deploying and managing parallel LAN and SAN infrastructure.
Unmatched Storage Performance
Connectivity to storage is enabled by either iSCSI or iSER (iSCSI Extensions for RDMA). By using iSER to connect to storage, the Voltaire SR4G High Performance Storage Router delivers an iSCSI solution with unmatched performance. A single Voltaire SR4G Storage Router provides 1500 MBps of storage throughput and enables a single server to gain up to a 200% improvement in throughput over a typical FC HBA.
Accelerate Application Performance
With the trend to multi–socket multi–core environments, server I/O has become a significant bottleneck to application performance. Voltaire Grid Backbone™ switches eliminate this imbalance by providing servers with a high performance InfiniBand connection. By aggregating multiple FC ports on to a single 20 Gbps wire, the Voltaire SR4G High Performance Storage Router speeds access to existing SANs significantly improving application responsiveness and performance.
Virtualize Storage Connectivity
Fibre Channel storage is delivered as a service by virtualizing storage connections. In addition to directly mapping FC storage devices to iSCSI initiators, the Voltaire SR4G High Performance Storage Router can create virtual storage devices that either subdivides a single physical device or that span multiple physical storage devices. Together with Voltaire's GridBoot™ firmware and GridVision™ management software, virtual disks can be used to quickly re–provision servers with different server personalities as needed.
Simplified Management
The Voltaire SR4G High Performance Storage Router utilizes existing FC and iSCSI management tools. The use of iSCSI enables simple IP–based management for all server I/O needs. Full integration with GridVision Fabric Management Software along with an easy to use web–based GUI, command line interface (CLI) and SNMP support simplifies management of all Unified Fabric resources and infrastructure.