Win2003 Zooms on Alacritech

A test commissioned by Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) shows that its recently released Windows Server 2003 far outshines Windows 2000 and NT 4.0 on file server performance -- and is even faster using Alacritech Inc.'s TCP offload engine (TOE) cards (see Alacritech Boosts Win2003 File Serving and Windows Soaks Up Storage).

The tests -- which Microsoft commissioned from VeriTest, a division of Lionbridge Technologies Inc. -- showed a Windows Server 2003 with Alacritech cards was 26 percent faster than the same server configured with Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) cards. Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) servers configured with Alacritech Gigabit Ethernet storage accelerator cards and running Windows Server 2003 achieved throughput of 1,370 Mbit/s. The same servers configured with Intel network adapters and running Windows NT 4.0 hit 439 Mbit/s; running Windows 2000 they hit 591 Mbit/s.

The testing firm didn't conduct tests using Alacritech adapters on either the Windows 2000 or NT 4.0 platforms.

"We found that regardless of the server employed or the number of processors, Windows Server 2003 generated significantly better peak file-serving performance compared to Windows 2000 Advanced Server and NT 4.0 Server Enterprise Edition," says the VeriTest test report summary. "Additionally, we found that using the Alacritech network adapters resulted in a performance improvement of approximately 26 percent compared to using the Intel PRO/1000 MF Server Adapters." The authors of the report could not be reached for comment by press time.

For the tests, VeriTest ran Windows Server 2003 on an HP ProLiant DL760G2 server configured with eight Alacritech cards. A summary of the results is available at www.veritest.com/clients/reports/microsoft/ms_performance.pdfAlacritech, of course, is thrilled. "Microsoft has done a fabulous job of validating the use of TOE in Windows," says Joe Gervais, Alacritech's director of product marketing. "For Alacritech, this is a pretty big endorsement of TOE."

Nancy Marrone, senior analyst with Enterprise Storage Group Inc., says the test results are an important proof point for Alacritech: "It's great for them to have that validation."

As iSCSI has been much slower to take off than it first anticipated, Alacritech has pitched its TCP-acceleration cards to the NAS market as a way to speed up file performance. Last year it conducted a similar performance test with Compaq and struck partnerships with several Linux-based NAS vendors (see Compaq, Alacritech: We Kick NAS and Alacritech Turns to Linux).

So how do Alacritech's TCP/IP accelerators contribute to such increases in performance? While TCP-related activity is usually processed by software, Alacritech's technology offloads it instead to the network adapter, where it is processed by specialized hardware, allowing for more efficient data delivery. "TCP in hardware has orders of magnitude better performance than TCP in software," says Gervais.

But Alacritech only offers a partial offload of the server, unlike other vendors, including Adaptec Inc. (Nasdaq: ADPT) and Intel, which are aiming to offer iSCSI acceleration and total offload of the server (see Adaptec Shipping iSCSI).Peter Aylaian, director of marketing at Adaptec, says he's very surprised that Microsoft would commission a test using Alacritech's card, claiming that Alacritech offers "an absolutely dead-end product." Microsoft hasn't even certified Alacritech's cards for Windows Server 2003 yet, he says. [Ed. note: Sour grapes?] According to the Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility List (HCL), though, all of Alacritech's products have been OK'd for Windows 2000 Server. And we would note that Adaptec still hasn't delivered its own network-accelerator card (see Adaptec Takes Whack at NAC).

Marrone, though, points out that Alacritech has been shipping its technology for more than a year. "It's proven," she says, adding that doing only partial offloads allows the company's technology to maintain many of the benefits of TCP/IP network adapters like load balancing.

More than anything, Marrone says, "Microsoft's decision to do the test with Alacritech proves the point that you actually have to have a shipping product."

Eugénie Larson, Reporter, Byte and Switch