Updated IBTA Integrators’ List now available IBTA / Plugfest 24 confirmed for October 7-18, 2013

BEAVERTON, Ore. – September 25, 2013 – The InfiniBand”®” Trade Association (IBTA), a global organization dedicated to maintaining and furthering the InfiniBand”™” specification, today announced the availability of its April 2013 Combined Cable and Device Integrators’ List. The updated Integrators’ List is a compilation of results from the IBTA Plugfest 23, listing all products that passed the compliance and interoperability requirements. During this event, cables supporting the Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) 100Gb/s InfiniBand standard were tested for compliance for the first time.

Release 1.3 of Volume 2 of the InfiniBand Architecture Specification, issued late last year, improved testing methods for Quad Data Rate (QDR) and Fourteen Data Rate (FDR) speeds, 40 and 56Gb/s per port respectively, and laid the groundwork for EDR to emerge in the 2013-2014 timeframe. The additions to the IBTA Integrators’ List, as well as new EDR testing for cables, are part of IBTA’s effort for furthering the InfiniBand specification and providing the industry with a low-latency, high-bandwidth interconnect ecosystem.

“Interoperability and compliance are consistently important for vendors and their customers, especially as InfiniBand and RDMA technology continue to deliver higher interconnect speed and performance,” said Rupert Dance, co-chair of the IBTA Compliance and Interoperability Working Group (CIWG). “IBTA’s newest Plugfest testing and Integrators’ List is a further testament to our commitment to advancing InfiniBand technology and ensuring its interoperability.”

The IBTA Integrators’ List, a compilation of all InfiniBand-compliant products, is updated every spring and fall following the bi-annual Plugfest and highlights the methodical testing and qualifying of various InfiniBand adapters, switches, storage targets and cables. The List assists IT professionals, including data center managers and CIOs, with their planned deployment of InfiniBand solutions. End-users and OEMs reference the list prior to the deployment of InfiniBand-related systems, including both small clusters and large-scale clusters of 10,000 nodes or more.

Vendors that contributed test equipment to the IBTA Plugfest 23 include the following:

  • Agilent Technologies – Agilent’s 86108B Precision Waveform Analyzer, a plug-in module used with the Agilent 86100D DCA-X Wide-Bandwidth Oscilloscope, was used during the physical layer testing of FDR HCAs and Switches.  The Agilent E5071C 20 GHZ ENA Series Network Analyzer was used during FDR and EDR cable testing.
  • Anritsu – Anritsu’s MP1800A Signal Quality Analyzers, with built-in Pulse Pattern Generators, were used during FDR and EDR Active cable Time Domain testing (ATD).  Anritsu also provided their MP1825B – 4Tap Emphasis device along with MP2100A- BertWave which supports simultaneous BER measurements and eye pattern analysis.
  • Molex – Molex Host Compliance Boards (HCB) were used during QDR device physical layer testing and the Molex Module Compliance Boards (MCB) were used for ATD, TDR, and VNA cable testing.
  • Tektronix – Tektronix provided two Performance Oscilloscopes: the DSA8300 Series Sampling Scope for Active/Passive Cable testing and the 20GHz DSA70000 Series Real-Time Scope for Device/Active Cable testing. In addition, Tektronix provided a BERTScope Bit Error Ratio Analyzer for Device Testing on the FDR InfiniBand HCAs.
  • Wilder Technologies – Wilder QSFP HCB test fixtures were used for FDR device physical layer testing.

The next IBTA Plugfest – Plugfest 24 – takes place October 7-18, 2013 at the University of New Hampshire Interoperability Lab in Durham, New Hampshire. For more information, or to register for Plugfest 24, please visit the IBTA Plugfest website.

About the InfiniBand”®” Trade Association

The InfiniBand”®” Trade Association was founded in 1999 and is chartered with maintaining and furthering the InfiniBand specification. The IBTA is led by a distinguished steering committee that includes HP, IBM, Intel, Mellanox Technologies, Oracle, QLogic and System Fabric Works. Other members of the IBTA represent leading enterprise IT vendors who are actively contributing to the advancement of the InfiniBand specification. The IBTA markets and promotes InfiniBand from an industry perspective through online, marketing and public relations engagements, and unites the industry through IBTA-sponsored technical events and resources. For more information on the IBTA, visit www.infinibandta.org.

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InfiniBand (TM/SM) is a trademark and service mark of the InfiniBand Trade Association. Other names and brands are the property of their respective owners.