IBM Flashes 10-Gig Switch Blade

IBM took another crack at the blade server market today, unveiling a 10-Gbit/s switch for its BladeCenter platform, as users begin to think about 10 Gbit/s for their server and storage infrastructures. (See IBM Adds 10-Gig Switch, and Future SANs Stir Debate.)

The new switch is OEM'd from Nortel spin-off Blade Network Technologies. The switch, which slots into the back of IBM's various BladeCenter chassis offerings, is the latest in a slew of blade announcements from IBM over recent months. (See IBM Sharpens SMB Blades, IBM Goes for SMB Blades, and Blade.org Grows to 60.)

The chassis of the Nortel 10G Uplink Ethernet Switch Module for BladeCenter supports up to four of the new switch modules, providing "a 10-Gig connection to the external world," according to Ishan Sehgal, program director for IBM's BladeCenter division. Sehgal also predicts that the 10-Gbit/s switch will prove extremely useful in the media and service provider industries. "For bandwidth intensive applications such as IPTV and multicasting, it's required," he explains.

The vendor's main blade rival, HP, currently offers a 1-Gbit/s Ethernet switch module from Cisco for its own BladeSystem platform, as well as a 2-Gbit/s interconnect switch.

IBM, however, would not reveal the identities of any of the beta customers using the new switch. But Randall Vogsland, infrastructure supervisor at law firm Bowman and Brooke, told Byte and Switch that, for him, a 10-Gbit/s blade switch would be overkill."In my particular environment, I probably don't push that amount [of data]," explains Vogsland, who is looking to deploy blade technology. (See Law Firm Ditches NAS, Saves Cash.) The exec does admit that the switch could be useful for shifting backup data. "One of the biggest consumers of storage-side bandwidth is my backups."

Charles King, principal analyst at research firm Pund-IT, feels that, at this point, the switch is most appropriate for high-bandwidth applications such as IP telephony and transferring chunks of video data between servers and storage. "I think it's probably going to be more effective for companies that are moving large volumes of data from one place to another."

In another announcement today, IBM teamed up with Intel in an attempt to open up the management of the BladeCenter platform. The two vendors unveiled the Systems Management Architecture for Server Hardware (SMASH), a management protocol encompassing both IBM and Intel hardware. According to IBM, this will let users set management standards across their data centers.

Of course, there is a method to this madness. IBM is racking up partners to support its blade server strategy in an attempt to bolster its position against rival vendors HP, Dell, and Sun. (See HP Intros Better Blade Mgt, Sun Delivers Blade Server, and Overstock.com Deploys Dell .) IBM, despite opening up its blade specifications some time ago, has its own architecture to push, and, to ensure success, is gathering as many partners as possible in its corner. (See IBM Forms Blade Community.)

Last week venture firm Walden International unveiled plans to pump $100 million into IBM's BladeCenter partners over the next five years, providing a clear indication of the vendor's dominance in this corner of the market. (See IBM, Walden Collaborate.)But despite these partnerships and deals, users still can't swap out blades from different vendors within the same chassis. (See A Blade That Cuts Both Ways.) "Realistically, I think we're quite a way from that," says King, adding that users would prefer to have integrated solutions.

King feels it is hardly surprising that vendors are going their own way with regard to blades. "I can see where HP is coming from -- they do trail IBM in the blade market, but not by a large margin,"

While Sun is currently in the throes of a major reorganization, it could do worse than team with IBM in the blade space, King says. (See Sun's Heating Up, Schwartz Shakes Up Sun, Sun Issues Growth Plan, and Siemens Invests in GlooLabs .) "For a company like Sun, which is undergoing restructuring and layoffs, going with a standardized architecture like BladeCenter would seem like a pretty attractive thing."

Pricing for the new switch, which is available immediately, starts at $4,999.

James Rogers, Senior Editor, Byte and SwitchOrganizations mentioned in this article: