"In the higher layers of the enterprise network, 10 GbE has proven its value in the aggregation of traffic among switches and in high-performance computing applications," said Hans Geyer, Intel vice president and general manager of the Intel Networking and Storage Group. "With a substantial reduction in cost and an adapter in a form factor that fits standard servers, it now promises to fill a similar rapidly growing need in the data center because the proliferation of GbE to the desktop and ever more network intensive applications are demanding more bandwidth."
According to analysts, making 10GbE server connectivity viable in the data center requires an adapter that is priced at less than $5,000 and operates on standard multi-mode fiber, which represents 90 percent of the optical cabling in data center networks.
The new Intel PRO/10GbE SR Server Adapter is the first to meet both of these requirements. The server adapter utilizes XPAK optical technology to reduce the price over previous adapters by 40 percent, making it ideal for server bandwidth-intensive applications such as server clusters, network storage, medical imaging and graphic design.
The adapter is designed for server deployments, which, in data centers, involve distances of fewer than 300 meters. The XPAK optics enable 10 GbE connectivity over multi-mode fiber and their small form factor makes the adapter compatible with standard server slots, enabling denser server environments.
Intel has been working with equipment makers to provide interoperability with leading switches.
Later this summer, Intel will introduce a version for single-mode fiber, the Intel PRO/10GbE LR Server Adapter, for applications involving distances up to 10 kilometers, such as communications among regional data centers.
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