Quoting from Computing

Intel has announced that it will open up key server technologies to system builders and networking vendors.

The chip maker said that QuickData, its server data input/output (I/O) technology, will be available to partners to boost data processing in products. QuickData is a data-acceleration engine that makes up a key part of the Intel I/O Acceleration Technology (I/OAT), which was introduced on Xeon 5100 series server processors earlier this year.

The technology is supported by vendors such as Broadcom, Fujitsu Siemens, Microsoft, VMware and IBM. I/OAT is already being used by manufacturers such as Supermicro, Toshiba, Lenovo and Hitachi.

Kirk Skaugen, vice-president of Intel’s server products group, said: “By enabling products from other vendors to use the data-acceleration engine in the Xeon 5100 and 5300 series-based platform, QuickData will help the industry benefit from the increased speed, scalability and server reliability that Intel enterprise platforms provide. This echoes our belief in the proliferation of key technologies designed to grow the industry’s computing and networking capabilities.”

The news was well received by other industry players.

Henry Sanders, general manager of the Windows Core Networking Group at Microsoft, said: “We are very pleased by Intel’s decision to broaden the availability of I/O acceleration. The additional third-party network vendor support will greatly benefit our Windows Server 2003 customers as they seek to cost-effectively scale network applications and optimise performance using the Scalable Networking Pack with Intel QuickData.”

Jeff Benck, vice-president of IBM BladeCenter and modular system development, said: “We are looking forward to the deployment of Intel’s built-in QuickData technology. We are assessing its benefits in our servers and with Intel’s PRO/1000PT networking adaptors. Now that Intel is allowing third-party products to access the data movement acceleration engine, the QuickData capability can be included across a broader range of our product lines.”

The technology is already being used by networking and software partners to create new solutions. VMware said QuickData will act as a hardware booster for memory copies. It is planning to use it to speed up its I/O emulation code. Mellanox Technologies will also support the technology in its line of adaptors to accelerate TCP/IP communications.

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