Alacritech Device Is More Than HBA

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Alacritech Device Is More

Than HBA”>

To the untrained eye, Alacritech Inc.s Alacritech 1000×1 Single Port Server and Storage Accelerator is simply a utilitarian network HBA. However, in eWeek Labs tests, this new device demonstrated high performance and versatility that could be the key that opens up the world of IP storage to host bus adapters.

The 1000×1 device, which shipped earlier this month, uses Alacritechs proprietary SLIC (Session-Layer Interface Card) technology to offload network protocol processing chores from a server. Because protocol processing is done by the devices hardware, server CPU utilization is cut significantly, even during intensive I/O operations.

Offloading CPU tasks to the HBA allows IT managers to devote more server resources to important things such as applications. This capability will also enable IT managers to leverage their high-speed IP networks to send storage traffic.

Simply put, the Alacritech 1000×1 makes possible IP storage networking at high speeds with low CPU utilization, which will justify the devices price in most larger enterprises. With a list price of $999 per adapter, the Alacritech 1000×1 is more expensive than most other Gigabit Ethernet adapters, which usually range from $80 to a little more than $200.

The Alacritech 1000×1 is hampered by limited interoperability, however: Currently, the device runs only on Windows platforms. According to company officials, Linux support is in the works, but for this card to become a major force, Alacritech must expand the 1000x1s support to include Unix servers such as Solaris, HP-UX and AIX.

Speed Tests

Perhaps even more important than the offloading aspect of the card is the raw performance it can produce. We opted to test the 1000×1 HBA as a storage controller, instead of putting the device through the usual network adapter paces, to see if it has the potential to be a major player in the storage networking market—and it does, as our test results showed.

We ran tests using Intel Corp.s Iometer benchmark and found the Alacritech 1000×1 HBA clocked as much as 217MB per second of throughput while running the card in full-duplex mode.

To put this speed in perspective, we would expect such performance from a garden-variety 2G-bps Fibre Channel HBA.

In our tests, the Alacritech 1000×1 showed the ability to handle both iSCSI traffic and IP networking traffic on the same adapter. The ability to perform both storage and networking tasks from a single slot will make the Alacritech 1000×1 desirable for rack-dense servers that have very few PCI slots.

Clearly, any IT manager concerned with performance should make sure that they use a solution with offloaded TCP/IP processing in their iSCSI-based SANs (storage area networks). Although the 1000×1 HBA cannot offload iSCSI operations (a software iSCSI client is required), its TCP/IP offloading still makes a big difference in performance.

We installed a Nishan Systems Inc. IPS 3000 Multiprotocol Storage Switch between the server with the Alacritech HBA and our storage systems. The Nishan switch took wire-speed Fibre Channel traffic and converted it into iSCSI IP traffic.

To make sure our Fibre Channel disk JBOD (for just a bunch of disks) setup was not a bottleneck in our tests, we created a test suite with sequential traffic (doing both read and write operations).

We saw best results when running requests that were 64KB in size—this is where we saw the 217MB-per-second throughput reading at the expense of less than 10 percent of our CPU resources.

In comparison, running the same test with an Intel 1000T Gigabit Ethernet adapter, we were able to push out only 142MB per second while burning up an alarming 45.34 percent of CPU resources. (We ran tests on a generic dual-Pentium III server.)

Senior Analyst Henry Baltazar can be reached at henry_baltazar@ziffdavis.com.

Alacritech 1000×1

Alacritech 1000×1

The Alacritech 1000×1 Single-Port Server and Storage Accelerator pushes Gigabit Ethernet HBAs into the world of high-speed storage networking. The high-performance Alacritech 1000×1 device does an excellent job of easing the strain on server CPUs, but its limited interoperability is an issue that must be addressed before IT managers can use the card to build enterprisewide IP SANs.

SHORT-TERM BUSINESS IMPACT // The Alacritech 1000×1 adapters cost more than typical IP HBAs but less than Fibre Channel adapters. Because the 1000×1 can do storage networking and IP networking from a single card, IT managers can immediately free up a PCI slot on their servers for other use.

LONG-TERM BUSINESS IMPACT // In the long run, the Alacritech 1000×1 will save IT managers money by allowing them to consolidate a large amount of their storage networking on IP networks and, thanks to its TCP/IP offload capabilities, freeing up server resources.

PROS // High performance, effective CPU offloading.

CONS // Limited interoperability.

Alacritech Inc., San Jose, Calif.; (408) 287-9997; www.alacritech.com