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In October 2017, the IBTA held its 32nd Plugfest at the University of New Hampshire Interoperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL), resulting in the latest InfiniBand Combined Cable and Device Integrators’ List and RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE) Interoperability List. Our rigorous, independent third-party compliance and interoperability program ensures that each cable and device that is tested successfully meets end user needs and expectations of InfiniBand and RoCE technology.
Plugfest 32 featured key updates and highlights, including:

  • New records for RoCE interoperability testing
    • Four major device vendors and seven of the most prominent cable vendors in the industry are now participating in the RoCE interoperability testing program
    • 21 Ethernet devices and over 60 Ethernet cables registered for the event, which were run through 30 different scenarios at speeds of 10, 25, 40, 50 and 100 GbE speeds
    • Work on new SFI Transport tester at Plugfest 32 will now allow 25 additional tests for Plugfest 33 in April 2018
    • New test equipment and application software enabled testing of InfiniBand HDR 200 Gb/s copper cables and the development of new HDR 200 Gb/s testing suites for implementation at Plugfest 33Cutting-Edge Testing Equipment and Capabilities

Our Plugfests are widely acknowledged as the most demanding and effective compliance and interoperability program in the industry, creating a robust and reliable ecosystem of InfiniBand and RoCE solutions that end users can depend on. Each IBTA Plugfest provides our members – both cable and device vendors – with a neutral venue in which to test products. Industry leading RDMA test equipment vendors supply cutting edge equipment for advanced compliance and interoperability testing. This results in a unique opportunity only offered by the IBTA for its members to test the latest InfiniBand and Ethernet-based products in many different scenarios, debug in real-time and resolve any issues uncovered in the process.

The IBTA Plugfest is essential to customers and members alike. Plugfests create a clear path to develop products that are compliant to the InfiniBand and RoCE specifications while also being interoperable within the larger ecosystem. Customers ranging from large data centers and research facilities to universities and government labs leverage the results of our Plugfests when determining which products to use when designing or upgrading their systems. Fabric design is an important and costly business decision, making the InfiniBand Integrators’ List and the RoCE Interoperability List crucial elements when building systems and ensuring that all equipment will operate seamlessly. The independent validation provided by the IBTA Compliance and Interoperability program is critical to the advancement of RDMA technology and the industry as a whole.

We would like to give a special thanks to the vendors that contributed test equipment to IBTA Plugfest 32, including Ace Unitech, Anritsu, Keysight Technologies, Molex, Software Forge, TE Connectivity, Tektronix and Wilder Technologies.

IBTA Plugfest 33 will be held April 9-20, 2018 at UNH-IOL. Registration and additional event information can be found on the IBTA Plugfest page.