HP Suits Up Proliant Servers With Infiniband

Hewlett-Packard this month rolled out its first HP ProLiant servers with integrated Infiniband I/O technology onboard.

The 10-Gbit, 24-port Infiniband couplings are being OEMed into the ProLiant servers by Topspin Communications, Mountain View, Calif.

Topspin also provides interoperable Infiniband I/O for HP's Integrity and HP 9000 server lines, but the ProLiant arrangement is the first integrated product from the two vendors, said John Gromala, marketing manager for the networking group at HP, Palo Alto, Calif.

"Having a single Infiniband switch that can be used across all three server lines [ProLiant, Integrity and HP 9000] allows more streamlining and efficiency for resellers," said Gromala.

Customers might be more likely to adopt Infiniband if the I/O is integrated into a well-known, name-brand server, instead of riding along as a separate, third-party add-on, said Ron Ringel, president of T2 Technologies, a Saline, Mich., solution provider.