BLADE's New RackSwitch G8124 With SFP+ Brings Rackonomics To Data Center Networks With The Industry's Lowest Per-Port Pricing, Power Consumption Less Than Two Standard Light Bulbs And Cable Costs A Fraction Of Fiber Optics

Santa Clara, CA - BLADE Network Technologies, Inc. (BLADE), the trusted leader in data center networking, announced recently its new RackSwitch G8124 with SFP+. This new addition to BLADE's RackSwitch family is a low-latency top-of-rack 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) switch equipped with 24 SFP+ (Small Form Factor Pluggable) ports.

BLADE's RackSwitch G8124 is a "Virtual, Cooler and Easier" solution that enables enterprise data centers to realize the benefits of cloud networking and HPC-class 10GbE networks, more affordably and efficiently. BLADE's RackSwitch G8124 provides data centers an unsurpassed combination of HPC-class performance, low-cost SFP+ connectivity, energy-efficient operation, VM-aware network virtualization and converged fabric networking. This new Ethernet switch enables today's dynamic data centers to realize massive scale-out economies through "Rackonomics" (scaling out data centers a rack at a time) and the most affordable per-port pricing for 10GbE.

"Designed with the Rackonomic data center in mind, the RackSwitch G8124 enables the move to an affordable 10 Gigabit Ethernet network infrastructure," said Dan Tuchler, Vice President of Strategy and Product Management, BLADE Network Technologies. "Priced at under $500 per 10GbE port, BLADE's RackSwitch G8124 provides significant reductions in infrastructure costs by using low-cost, low-power SFP+ direct attach copper cables to connect to servers and fiber optic cables to connect across longer distances to core networks. We believe that this low price point, and reduction in total cost of ownership through our Rackonomics model, will be a driver in widespread adoption of 10GbE in the data center."

"BLADE's Rackonomics approach is ideal for our Eco-Rack Infrastructure which integrates the server plus storage and networking in one small-footprint, energy-saving cabinet," said Jerry Namery, Chief Technology Officer, Winchester Systems, a leading data storage solution provider. "BLADE's RackSwitch family offers us scalable, cost-effective, high-performance 'unified' network switching integrated with our 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet NAS and IP SAN solutions. This new 'Lean & Green' IT infrastructure can reduce data center cabinet sprawl and energy waste by at least 50 percent."

HPC-Class Performance: Line-rate, non-blocking performance and low latency of less than 700 nanoseconds makes the RackSwitch G8124 ideal for high performance computing (HPC) clusters, cloud computing and I/O-intensive applications. All RackSwitch products have been tested for interoperability with leading server NICs and existing network infrastructures. Support for IGMP Snooping and Layer 3 enables high-bandwidth, low-latency multicast applications.

Low-Cost SFP+ Connectivity: SFP+ transceivers enable use of low-cost direct attach copper cables for short distances of up to 10 meters and fiber optic cables across longer distances to connect with core networks. SFP+ transceivers are gaining industry momentum as today's most affordable connectivity form factor with the low-cost, low-latency and low-power advantages of next-generation 10G-BaseT transceivers.

Green IT for Power Reduction: At full loading, the RackSwitch G8124 consumes an average of just 170 watts -- less than the power required for two standard light bulbs -- and matches the airflow of servers to eliminate the "hot loops" caused by general-purpose switches that pull hot air from server exhaust.

Converged Networking: The RackSwitch G8124 is Converged Enhanced Ethernet (CEE) capable so enterprises will be able to easily transition to Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) converged networking and storage fabrics when the standard is approved in 2009.

VM Migration-Aware Network Virtualization: BLADE's SmartConnect switch virtualization software enables shared I/O across an entire rack of servers. BLADE's VMready secures and automates the migration of "live" virtual machines -- providing matching movement of the network's essential security, access and performance policies without cumbersome and error-prone manual intervention. BLADEHarmony Manager provides server-oriented provisioning through an easy point-and-click management interface for updating large groups of switches.

About BLADE's RackSwitch Product Family
BLADE's new RackSwitch G8124 rounds out BLADE's RackSwitch top-of-rack data center switch family. This includes the RackSwitch G8100, a low-latency 24-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch equipped with CX4 transceivers for low power, low cost and very low latency, and the RackSwitch G8000, a 1-10GbE aggregation switch equipped with 48 Gigabit Ethernet ports and up to four 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports with either SFP+ or CX4 transceivers in a 1U footprint.

To bring its RackSwitch products to market, BLADE is leveraging its market-leading position as the number-one supplier of Ethernet switches for blade servers. BLADE has more than five million ports installed, connecting more than 1,100,000 HP, IBM, NEC and Verari server blades, delivering its products across 26 market segments including large data center networks equipped with thousands of switches. BLADE's experience with networking optimized for servers and storage has validated the need for rack-friendly switches that simplify IT management requirements and equip today's I/O-intensive data centers with network virtualization.

SOURCE: BLADE Network Technologies