IBM will incorporate QLogic's integrated Fibre Channel input output
(I/O) technology, dubbed "Fibre Down," into IBM server blades, the
companies announced at the NetWorld+Interop 2002 trade show in Las
Vegas.
The arrangement is one of the first wins for IBM's BladeCenter
Alliance Program.
Fibre Down technology features a Fibre Channel host adapter, a
management controller, and any necessary switches - all on a single
chip. This makes Fibre Down well suited for ultra-dense server
environments such as blade server networks. Fibre Down will also
speed the implementation of server blade networks by reducing the
complexity routinely associated with the installation of HBA and
standalone switches, according to IBM.
IBM's BladeCenter Alliance Program fosters interoperability between
IBM BladeCenter server blade products and those of other
companies.
Introduced last month, the first IBM server blades are expected to
arrive in the second half of 2002. IBM's eServer BladeCenter server
blades will pack high-performance, two-way server modules running
Intel's Xeon MP processors as well as IBM's own Power chips. The
systems will fit 84 servers to a single industry standard server
rack.
IBM's blades will compete against blade offerings from
Hewlett-Packard/Compaq, Dell, and Sun. IBM's competition in the
server blade market each uses a different mixture of I/O for their
individual blade products, ranging from standards such as
Compact-PCI, NEBS, and Gigabit Ethernet.
Experts predict that server blade manufacturers will eventually
settle on a common standard for blade I/O, but caution that such a
consensus could take as long as two years.