Compaq ProLiant CL1850 ServerNet II SAN Interconnect for Scalable Computing Cl - Page 1

WHITE PAPER June 2000 Compaq Computer Corporation Prepared by ISSD Technology Communications CONTENTS Executive Summary .........1 Introduction 3 Traditional Networks versus System Area Networks 3 ServerNet II SAN Technology Improves the Response of Clusters 5 Compaq ServerNet II Technology 5 ServerNet II Hardware Components 6 Low Latency Techniques Improve Performance 7 ServerNet II Performance Summary 7 ServerNet II Leverages VI Architecture Features to Improve Scalability 8 Fault Tolerance at All Levels ..8 Operating System Vendor and Independent Software Vendor Support 8 The Future with InfiniBand 9 Summary 9 ... Compaq ServerNet II SAN Interconnect for Scalable Computing Clusters EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This paper introduces Compaq's ServerNet II system area network (SAN) interconnect for use in scalable business computing clusters. Clusters generate intense server-toserver messaging that can overwhelm traditional network technologies. The software protocol overhead generated by traditional network technologies impedes server-to server communication and limits the scalability, availability, and flexibility of clusters. In contrast, the ServerNet II SAN interconnect is a high-bandwidth, low-latency network technology that is proven to handle intense messaging in server clusters. A ServerNet II SAN allows applications to be distributed over multiple servers, which increases cluster scalability through greater parallelism and higher availability. The reader should be familiar with the Virtual Interface Architecture. Please direct comments regarding this communication to the ISSD Technology Communications Group at this Internet address: [email protected] Doc Number TC000602WP 1