July 8, 2008 -- 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10-GbE) silicon provider Solarflare Communications (www.solarflare.com) recently completed a 10GBASE-T product demonstration with CommScope, a provider of enterprise cabling infrastructure platforms for communications networks. The demonstration was held at the recent HP Technology Forum & Expo in Las Vegas.
Showcasing Microsoft's Hyper-V virtualization technology over a 10GBASE-T network using CommScope and Solarflare products, the demo used iSCSI technology as the vehicle to talk to the centralized storage where virtual machines and their data are stored. The Hyper-V role uses the native Microsoft SCSI drivers within the native Windows Server 2009 platform to communicate with the storage devices, start and run the virtual machines. Together, the platfrom shows the convergence of iSCSI and networking over a low-cost and low-power 10GbE network without the need for special iSCSI host bus adaptors, other protocols or specialized network gear.
Using IOMeter to drive over 2900 MB/s of iSCSI storage network traffic, the demo's topology consisted of a 10GBASE-T NIC and switch using Solarflare technology and Ethernet traffic running over 100 meters of CommScope's SYSTIMAX GigaSPEED X10D Category 6A cabling in a six-around-one 4 connector configuration, representing the worst-case channel configuration as specified in the TIA augmented Category 6 standard. The cornerstone of the solution, Solarflare's Solarstorm SFC4000E vNIC 10-GbE controller, accelerated network traffic efficiently with wire speed throughput on all the major virtualization environments.
"The proliferation of server virtualization, the growth of rich media applications and the convergence of data and storage networking are driving the need for cost effective, easy-to-use 10GbE networking," comments Bruce Tolley, vice president of marketing at Solarflare Communications.
"With 10GBASE-T technology that supports virtualization, iSCSI and network convergence over standard Ethernet, data centers and enterprises can easily and cost-effectively upgrade their networks to 10-GbE and support advanced business applications," adds Luc Adriaenssens, senior vice president, research and development and technology, CommScope.
