Grid-X

Mysterious grid computing startup Grid-X is quietly working with the U.S. government to develop a TCP/IP offload engine (TOE) it claims will scale up to 100-Gbit/s Ethernet.

While the firm, based in the Boston area, remains cloaked in secrecy, a source close to the company told Byte and Switch that Grid-X has already lined up beta tests at a U.S. government research lab and a major defense firm.

Don't expect to see many more details anytime soon, though. "Grid-X will be in stealth for a good year," explains the source, who asked not to be named, adding that the firm's TOE technology will be generally available sometime in late 2008.

TOEs reduce the strain on firms servers by assuming some of the throughput burden from microprocessors and I/O subsystems. In the case of Grid-X, the purpose would be to accelerate the speed at which grid computers, clusters, and HPC machines process and deliver data.

The vendor's secret sauce, apparently, comes from a set of algorithms that are being developed to cope with 100-Gbit/s Ethernet networks.While tight-lipped on TOE, Grid-X is slightly more forthcoming on its financials. The startup claims to have racked up $250,000 in government contracts for its offload engine and to have brought in an additional $500,000 from a group of angel investors.

One of the firm's angel investors, former oil trader Willard Poires, told Byte and Switch that he does not think that Grid-X will be chasing VCs in the near future. "Basically, I think that we're OK for the next few years," he says. "More money will be coming in this year from seed [investors] and government contracts."

At least one analyst thinks that talk of 100-Gbit/s is like putting the cart before the horse. "There's only 10-Gbit/s pipes out there today," explains Bob Wheeler, senior analyst at the Linley Group consultancy, adding that standards for 100-Gbit/s Ethernet are still being formulated. (See 10GBase-T Adapters Debut.)

Vendors such as Neterion and Chelsio have already established a presence in the 10-Gbit/s space, although Wheeler thinks Grid-X may be able to carve out a niche in the government sector. (See Chelsio Unifies Chip.)

Many parts of the federal government, particularly those working in homeland security and defense, have some serious data processing needs that could open the door to a high-speed offload engine. "If you think about trying to intercept email traffic and scan it for terrorist activity, you could imagine the massive processing capacity needed," says Wheeler.Stranger things have happened, according to the analyst, who uses the example of 10-Gbit/s chip startup Bay Microsystems, which is partly financed by In-Q-Tel, the C.I.A's technology incubator. The vendor's ABEx device has already been deployed by the U.S. government for extending InfiniBand networks.

Another startup, Exponential Storage, is currently building a file-sharing solution with the help of the National Security Agency, which will eventually be targeted at the military and government sectors. (See Exponential Storage.) This is likely to involve the storage of digital images from satellites and reconnaissance aircraft.

Like Exponential, Grid-X has not released headcount details, although the startup is said to have a five-strong workforce, most of whom are electrical engineers and scientists.

— James Rogers, Senior Editor Byte and Switch