back to article Xsigo is good for decluttering but can it clean up?

I/O virtualiser Xsigo has won another deal and successfully gone through a funding round in June. But its technology could just be a short-term fix to a server-edge network clutter problem. Xsigo's virtual I/O directors are going in as part of a Compellent SAN at Wholesale Electric of Houston. Like Virtensys, which also …

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  1. Magellan

    Both Cisco and Brocade can do this

    The Cisco Nexus 5000 and the Brocade 8000 can be used exactly like the Xsigo and VirtenSys solutions, using FCoE as the storage protocol, and Ethernet as the fabric.

    Half-height and blade mezzanine FCoE Converged Network Adapters (CNAs) are available today from QLogic, and will soon be available from Emulex and Brocade. Blade mezzanine CNAs are available today from QLogic, and will soon be available from Emulex.

    Storage administration (zones, LUN masking, etc.) in an FCoE environment is identical to a pure Fibre Channel environment. Ethernet management (VLANs, etc.) in an FCoE environment is identical to a pure Ethernet environment. Management concepts unique to Fibre Channel and to Ethernet are mature and robust. Only FCoE specific features (FIP, etc.) are new. This means a minimal learning curve for FCoE compared to InfiniBand or PCIe based networking.

    There is little reason to use Xsigo unless you have a need for an InfiniBand network beyond I/O consolidation. Xsigo might be the best solution for an InfiniBand HPC cluster. As there is little existing PCIe based networking in the world (except in the cPCI based real-time and networking space), the only place VirtenSys' technology makes sense is in those markets, where the customers already know PCIe semantics.

  2. The First Dave

    Cost

    "cost-savings by eliminating server edge interface and cable clutter"

    Pull the other one: last time I checked, a generic ethernet cable was an awful lot cheaper than any interface card. Besides, as soon as you put this in, some other genius will want to talk to you about redundancy...

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