The IBM BladeCenter HS22 gets more networking options through IBM partnerships with QLogic and Emulex. The BladeCenter HS22 blade server was introduced in March in conjunction with Intel's launch of its Xeon 5500 processors, code-named Nehalem EP. Use of the QLogic 8100 Series enables greater FCOE connectivity, while Emulex's 8G-bps Fibre Channel expansion card brings performance and power consumption improvements.
IBM is partnering with QLogic and Emulex
to expand the networking options on its new BladeCenter HS22 blade servers.
IBM rolled out the HS22 systems in March,
one of several new x86 servers the vendor unveiled to coincide with the launch
of Intel's Xeon
5500 Series "Nehalem EP" chips. IBM
officials at the time said the HS22 offered three times the memory of current
blade servers and a nine-to-one consolidation ratio.
The partnerships with QLogic
and Emulex were announced May 26.
IBM will offer QLogic's new 8100 Series
converged network adapters for FCOE (Fibre Channel over Ethernet) connectivity
not only on its new blades, but across all of its System x x86-based rack and
tower servers. QLogic officials said the 8100 Series also will drive down power
consumption and heat dissipation, saving on energy costs.
The announcement comes less than two months after QLogic rolled out its 8100
Series adapters, which converge Fibre Channel and Ethernet onto a single 10
Gigabit Ethernet base. The converged network adapters enable network
administrators to run both storage and data networking traffic over the same
base at full 10G Ethernet speeds.
Most network technology vendors have such converged network adapters in
their arsenal. Demand for FCOE will continue to grow, according to research company
Dell'Oro Group, which predicts a 200 percent growth annually over the next four
years, with the market reaching almost $400 million by 2013.
QLogic's 8100 Series will help improve the performance and virtual machine
support of IBM's systems by taking the FCOE
protocol processing off the CPUs, according to Alex Yost, vice president of IBM's
Systems and Technology Group.
As part of its agreement with IBM, QLogic
also announced its new 10 Gigabit CEE (Converged Enhanced Ethernet) high-speed
Pass-Thru Module, which gives IBM
BladeCenter systems with the 8100 Series 14 connections between the converged
network adapters and external 10G Ethernet or 10G CEE switches and devices.
Emulex also announced May 26 that its LightPulse 8G-bps Fibre Channel CIOv
Expansion Card is optimized for use with the BladeCenter HS22, giving users
better dual-channel I/O throughput and improving the efficiency of the system's
CPU.
The Emulex technology will improve performance and reduce energy costs,
according to Emulex officials.
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