Although more announcements concerning interconnect systems supporting the VI Architecture are expected to be announced at the Intel Developers Forum in Palm Springs next week, GigaNet Inc, which will launch its new GNX 5000 switch at the event, says it expects to retain the technology lead with its native mode hardware implementation of VI. Competing technologies, including Tandem Computers Inc’s ServerNet and Dolphin Interconnect’s Clustar, use software emulation at the moment, although Tandem says it’s working on a hardware version. David Follett, GigaNet’s founder and CEO says Dolphin’s reliance on software is one of the reasons they pulled out of the market. (Dolphin hasn’t confirmed this, but Follet says there’s every reason to believe that they have left the interconnect space. We no longer see them as competition. We have significantly better performance, he says.) The GigaNet implementation of VI offers the necessary high bandwidth, low-latency link between servers that isn’t possible with fibre channel, says Follett, and the switch version enables GigaNet to scale its technology beyond that of it its current PCI adapter boards. The cLAN GNX 5000 switch has been in beta testing since July, and GigaNet, which is looking to OEMS to get its technology out on the market, expects to make the first announcement of OEM contracts over the next few weeks. The emphasis has been on the volume market of NT servers. Database companies and high-availability software houses such as Vinca and NSI Software Inc have been particularly interested, he said, predicting that the market would see the introduction of failover server set-ups for under $10,000 in the near future. While database vendors need to adapt their software to support VI, GigaNet is offering software to enable them to operate through standard APIs, with some performance penalty. GigaNet recently closed a further round of funding and says revenues from its products are now beginning to kick in.
