10-Gig Gains Momentum

Could 10-Gigabit Ethernet be breaking out of its traditional high-performance computing niche? Startup S2io Technologies Corp. certainly thinks so after clinching a key OEM deal with hardware giant Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) earlier this week (see HP Selects S2io's Xframe).

By signing the agreement, HP has effectively rubber-stamped S2ios 10-Gigabit Ethernet adapter for its family of enterprise servers. Until now, this type of technology was mainly the preserve of academic institutions and conehead-style research projects. S2io’s other big OEM deals are with supercomputing giants Cray Inc. (Nasdaq: CRAY) and Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) (NYSE: SGI).

There is one key difference between these agreements. Whereas Cray and Silicon Graphics are big-hitters amongst white-coated scientists, HP ships servers to a wide range of enterprise users. Clearly, there is a growing market demand.

Recently, there have been other signs that 10-Gigabit Ethernet is gaining momentum. A report from Communications Industry Researchers Inc. (CIR) this week predicted that the overall 10-Gigabit market will grow from $570 million in 2005 to reach a massive $3.3 billion in 2009. CIR attributes much of this growth to 10-Gigabit Ethernet, which will account for 80 percent of the market in four years’ time (see Report: 10-Gbit/s Market to Reach $3.3B).

Industry observers believe falling prices for 10-Gigabit Ethernet are helping expand its popularity. “Initially, it was so expensive that it was only universities and government research labs playing with it and doing wire speed testing,” says David Gross, research analyst at CIR. “They were the ones that could spend $50,000 per port.”But this situation has changed. “Now that port prices are coming down in general, the enterprise market has got interested,” he says, adding that demand will now grow dramatically.

Initially, the technology will be used to switch between server clusters in enterprise data centers, according to Gross. Then, over time, companies will increasingly use 10-Gigabit Ethernet for trunking between wiring closets.

Enterprise take-up spells good news for S2io, although the vendor is not the only company selling this type of server adapter. Another Californian startup, Chelsio Communications Inc. is also aiming to make it big in 10-Gigabit, having emerged from stealth earlier this year (see Chelsio Debuts 10-GigE Adapter and Chelsio Charms Sun, Intel Execs).

But Chelsio CEO Kianoosh Nagshineh is playing his technology cards close to his chest. When NDCF contacted him about the HP deal, the exec promised, somewhat cryptically, that there will be “a lot of activity” from Chelsio over the next 90 days.

Nagshineh added that the company will disclose its OEM wins when the timing is right for Chelsio's OEM partners.His counterpart over at S2io, Dave Zabrowski, was a little more forthcoming. The CEO says a next-generation version of the Xframe will be launched in the first quarter of 2005. “We have a complete set of strategies and road-maps that we will be rolling out in Q1,” says Zabrowski.

But are there any more major partnerships in the pipeline? “We’re working with other companies, [but] we’re not in a position to announce anything yet,” he says.

A third startup also joined the fray in late September. Beverly, Mass.–based grid computing firm SeaFire Micros Inc. finally emerged into the sunlight after four years in stealth mode (see Startup Goes From Garage to Grids).

— James Rogers, Site Editor, Next-gen Data Center Forum