SGI Targets First in 4-Gig

Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) (NYSE: SGI) hopes to deliver the first storage array with end-to-end 4-Gbit/s performance (see SGI Launches 4-Gig System and Engenio Goes 4-Gig for HPC).

The SGI InfiniteStorage TP9700l, set for March delivery, is based on a 4-Gbit/s controller from Engenio Information Technologies Inc. It is aimed at the high-performance computing (HPC) segment, SGI says.

Although Engenio also sells controllers to IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) and Storage Technology Corp. (StorageTek) (NYSE: STK) and Sun Microsystems Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW), its no surprise that SGI became the first to adopt its first 4-Gbit/s controller with an HPC system. HPC customers, a key market for SGI, run applications that use large files and require significant bandwidth, so they presumably can use 4-Gbit/s FC to break bottlenecks.

Indeed, since Gigabit Ethernet reigns as the preferred HPC transport, some industry observers think it's likely that 4-Gbit/s FC has a chance to eventually penetrate HPC sites looking to go faster (see HPC List Shows Interconnect Status).

In contrast, experts say most mainstream storage users seem to be chugging along fine at 2-Gbit/s FC speeds, even if 4-Gbit/s FC is backward compatible and costs around the same.“I think [4-gig] is still a ways out there as far as mainstream storage systems,” says

The Yankee Group analyst Stephanie Balaouras. “Most of the emphasis is on the SMB market and focused on iSCI. On the high end, they’re more focused on tiered storage and SATA drives.”

While 4-Gbit/s technology is likely still months away from being used in mainstream storage systems, today’s announcement could get the ball rolling. Until today, we’ve seen announcements from switch, HBA, hard drive, and chip vendors, but no complete systems (see 4-Gig for Show, Report Looks Beyond 4-Gig, and Chips Dip Into Serial, 4-Gbit/s).

“This allows people to start using their 4-gig Fibre Channel switch ports for something other than expensive ISLs [inter-switch links],” says analyst Greg Schulz of Evaluator Group.

None of the major storage vendors has set a public timetable for 4-gig. Engenio’s marketing director Steve Gardner won’t discuss which OEM customers will adopt the controller, but he expects to see more systems built around it later this year.

Still, it’s clear the major storage vendors are preparing. EMC, Hitachi, and IBM have qualified Brocade Communications Systems Inc.’s (Nasdaq: BRCD)Silkworm 4100 4-gig switch. (See EMC Ships 4-Gig Brocade Switch, IBM Offers 4-Gig SAN Switch, and Meta: IT Dips in WLAN.) Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) and McData Corp. (Nasdaq: MCDTA) say they expect to ship 4-gig switches this year. Emulex Corp. (NYSE: ELX) claims design wins for its 4-gig HBAs, although no storage vendors have announced qualification of 4-gig HBAs from Emulex or QLogic Corp. (Nasdaq: QLGC).— Dave Raffo, Senior Editor, Byte and Switch