Product Announcement
9 September 2003

Myrinet for the IBM BladeCenter

IBM announced today the immediate availability of Myrinet as the high-speed cluster interconnect for the IBM eServer BladeCenter. The Myrinet connectivity between blades is an option that boosts the performance of distributed-computing applications such as High Performance Technical Computing, databases, and N-tier servers, enabling users to harness the full power of the BladeCenter as a cluster.

Myrinet on the IBM BladeCenter provides the same functions and performance, and uses the same software, as Myrinet on the other highly successful IBM eServer Cluster 1350 products. The IBM BladeCenter with Myrinet increases density and reduces cabling complexity, while still providing inter-chassis and inter-rack connectivity on fiber, and scalability to any number of hosts.

The blades currently available for the IBM BladeCenter are single- or dual-Xeon servers, with either Linux or Windows. A BladeCenter chassis houses up to 14 server blades in 7U of rack space. Blades, power supplies, fans, and network modules are all hot-swappable.

The basis for Myrinet on the BladeCenter is the daughter-card PCI-X interface shown in the photograph to the left. This M3S-PCIXD-2-I interface is functionally identical to the M3F-PCIXD-2 version of the "D card," except that the Myrinet link is on an electrical connector rather than on fiber. Myrinet and other network links are carried from the blades across the "mid-plane" of the BladeCenter to network modules, which plug into the back of the BladeCenter.

An IBM-developed Optical Passthru Module (OPM) serves as the network module for Myrinet. The photograph to the right shows an OPM and an ethernet module. The OPM converts the Myrinet signaling from the 14 blades to four quad-fiber links. Each fiber ribbon cable is terminated on the opposite end with 4 LC-connectorized fiber pairs that can be plugged into a Myrinet switch.

The Myrinet software support for BladeCenter "D card" interfaces is based on GM-2, with its usual suite of MPICH-GM, VI-GM, and Sockets-GM middleware. When Myricom releases the Myrinet Express (MX) software, it will also be available for the IBM BladeCenter.

Myrinet components for the IBM BladeCenter are available from IBM as an option for the BladeCenter, with Myrinet switches and software support available from Myricom. Pricing is similar to that for Myrinet on conventional servers.

9 September 2003