|
|
Cluster commodity-"priced servers together and reliability and
scalability climb. Or so the thinking goes. But if those servers
aren't tied together with a high-speed, low-latency connection,
they're just a collection of so much sluggish hardware.
Giganet Inc. says its cLAN GNN1000 High Performance Host Adapter
brings some get-up-and-go to server clusters. It links Windows NT
se
rvers at 1.25 Gbit/s over copper cable and comes with specialized
software that cuts CPU processing labor by a factor of 40. That means
apps on different machines can exchange data with only 8 microseconds
of latency, the vendor says—and all for less than $800.
|
The Easy Way Around
|
Drawbacks? The host adapter transmits data over the wire using a
proprietary transmission scheme, so it can't be directly connected to
standard-based switches or routers. And true clustering is still a way
off, given that the GNN1000 can link only two servers for now.
Further, the adapter works only with Windows NT servers.
Adapter Assessment
The GNN1000 is a hot-swappable NIC (network interface card) that
plugs into the bus of either 32- or 64-bit PCI-compliant servers
. It
also comprises software that runs on the server and allows
applications to bypass the NT operating system in accessing the
network link—and that's what helps cut processing overhead so
dramatically, according to Giganet (Concord, Mass.) (see the figure).
It relies on the Virtual Interface (VI) architecture made public by
Compaq Computer Corp. (Houston), Intel Corp. (Santa Clara, Calif.),
and Microsoft Corp. (Redmond, Wash.) last fall.
The adapter uses STP (shielded twisted pair) cabling and boasts
1.25-Gbit/s throughput. Justin Rattner of Intel's server architecture
lab has beta-tested the adapter and says it sends and receives
256-kbyte messages at "close to 500 Mbit/s, which is phenomenal."
Users also are giving it the thumbs-up. "With Giganet host adapters,
you can build much faster databases," says Hershel Harris, director of
database technology at IBM's database development lab (Toronto). He
says it gives a performance jolt to IBM's Netfinity servers running
processing-intensive DB2 rel
ational database apps. "To run DB2 on
different NT machines you need a really fast interconnect device," he
says. "This is the first."
Still, the GNN1000 transmits that data using proprietary
technology. "In other words, you can't just plug this into your Cisco
router or your Bay hub," says Giganet founder and CEO David Follett.
Connecting the cluster to the rest of the LAN means plugging an
Ethernet adapter or other standards-based card into one of the
servers.
Cluster of Competition
|
MORE INFO
Product Summary
|
What are the alternatives to GNN1000? Standards-based LAN
technologies are today's most popular choice for clustering CPUs in
different machines. And there are several to choose from, including
Etherne
t (10 or 100 Mbit/s or 1 Gbit/s); HIPPI (high-performance
parallel interface; 800 Mbit/s and 1.6-Gbit/s); and Fibre Channel
(100, 200, 400, and 800 Mbit/s). There also are proprietary
alternatives, such as Servernet from Tandem (Cupertino, Calif.), a
Compaq company.
But unlike the Giganet adapter, standard LAN equipment doesn't come
with special software that cuts the processing loads. And that gear
can be a lot more expensive too: Gigabit Ethernet adapters generally
cost $1,500 to $2,000; HIPPI adapters, anywhere from $2,000 to $3,500;
and Fibre Channel, anywhere from $1,200 to $3,000.
Further, Servernet doesn't implement VI architecture in its
hardware. Tandem's product can bypass the protocol stack, but not the
operating system, which Giganet says makes it several times slower
than the GNN1000. Tandem cites a throughput of 450 Mbit/s; it says it
will implement the VI architecture later this year. The Servernet
adapter also costs more: $995, as opposed to the roughly $800 that
Giganet charg
es for the GNN1000.
As for what Giganet has in store for the future, it's talking up an
eight-port switch that it plans to roll out in September; it will cost
$6,250. The vendor says that with multiple switches and adapters,
corporate networkers will be able to connect up to as many as 128
machines.
[
Home
]
[
Registration
|
Subscriptions
]
[
Contact Us
|
E-Mail
]
|
