Silverback Finds iSCSI Partner

Silverback Systems Inc. and chipmaker Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) -- a duo struggling to market iSCSI initiator products - say they will combine on an embedded processor both hope will help spur iSCSI target-side sales.

Silverback will use Intel’s XScale processors and Silverback’s iSNAP chip in the same board, in reference configurations. iSNAP dual-port gigabit Ethernet processors will provide TCP/IP offload and iSCSI processing alongside an XScale processor.

Until now, XScale chips have largely been used in handheld devices, but Intel is trying to push them into the storage segment as well.

The embedded processors will compete with products from Adaptec Inc. (Nasdaq: ADPT) and QLogic Corp. (Nasdaq: QLGC) inside iSCSI subsystems.

Silverback CEO Danny Biran says some of the startup’s system OEMs have been using the iSNAP chip alongside XScale already, and combining the processors into one design kit would help bring product to market faster. “We thought it would be a good idea to work on it together,” Biran says.At least one analyst is underwhelmed by the news. "It doesn't imply a huge endorsement by Intel," says Linley Gwennap, principal eponymous analyst of The Linley Group. "Intel is interested in iSCSI and they're simply trying another way to show that."

One thing may make Silverback different from the host of other startups that partner with Intel for reference platforms. Intel and Silverback already had a relationship. Six weeks ago Silverback announced it received an investment from the Intel Communications Fund (see Intel Backs Silverback).

Can the investment and the reference platform save Silverback from the same fate of other iSCSI initiator startups, which have been thinned out due to lack of business? Trebia and iReady have already gone belly up, while iSCSI target providers have gained traction (Nvidia Buys iReady, Trebia Croaks, and ISCSI Shakin' Goin' On).

Biran says Silverback already has OEM design wins, although he won’t announce them. He clearly is counting on the Intel partnership to bring more. He says he has no timetable for producing samples for OEMs, believing it won’t take long because it's already possible to use the iSNAP processor in xScale’s PCI slot.

“Certain configurations are available today,” he says.— Dave Raffo, Senior Editor, Byte and Switch