Silicon Graphics Announces Next Generation of Network Serving Solutions
October 6, 1997 08:00 AM
ATLANTA, Oct. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Reinforcing its position as a leader in high-performance networking solutions, Silicon Graphics, Inc. SGI today announced new Gigabit File Serving and Gigabit Ethernet products to help customers take advantage of the Silicon Graphics(R) Origin(TM)
server platform. The new gigabit networking products, which include BDSPro(TM) 2.0 (Bulk Data Service Pro) and Gigabit Ethernet solutions, improve the quality of decision making, enhance time-to-market and increase profitability. The new solutions will be shown at the Silicon Graphics booth (No. 7157) at Networld+Interop this week.
Moving Massive Data
BDSPro 2.0, an extension to NFS(TM) 3 (Network File System(TM)), offers a five-fold increase in file serving at full bandwidth over gigabit networks, compared to NFS 3. When used over gigabit
networks such as HIPPI (High-Performance Parallel Interface), Fibre Channel and Gigabit Ethernet, BDSPro allows customers in data-intensive markets, including enterprise, entertainment and technical computing, to perform large terabyte data movements such as network backups. A backup of a multiterabyte database can take more than 100 hours with NFS on a traditional 100Mbps network,
but takes just four hours with BDSPro and gigabit networking. BDSPro 2.0 runs on version 6.2 and later of the Silicon Graphics IRIX(TM) operating system. Implementations of BDS are also available
for LINUX and UNICOS(R).
"A fast network such as Fibre Channel alone is not sufficient for our customers," said Marc Friedman, president of Prisa Networks. "They need a balanced solution that enables high-speed data transfers
without an I/O bottleneck. That's why we resell BDSPro along with our Fibre Channel networks for the high-performance and scalable Silicon Graphics Origin2000 systems. The combined solution allows our post production and broadcast studio customers to keep large image files and video clips centrally stored, and they can access them on a desktop or workstation."
Most Advanced Gigabit Ethernet Server Solution
Silicon Graphics and Alteon Networks announced earlier that they have combined the Alteon AceNIC adapter with Silicon Graphics driver technology to provide customers with the most advanced Gigabit Ethernet server solution on the market. The Silicon Graphics driver leverages the Alteon adapter intelligence to offload server-intensive functions such as calculating TCP checksums.
To ensure that customers benefit from minimal system overhead, the two companies will also be collaborating on additional advanced IP offload functionality. The initial release of the Gigabit Ethernet
adapter will include both PCI and XIO devices supporting the Silicon Graphics Origin and Onyx2(TM) systems running the IRIX 6.4 operating system. Customers will be able to support up to 16 Gigabit Ethernet adapters in a single Origin system.
Silicon Graphics, leveraging over a decade of gigabit networking experience with HIPPI, Fibre Channel and other gigabit networking technologies, continually delivers reliable products, such as
BDSPro, that address customer needs for networking without bottlenecks so they can further enhance time-to-market and increase profitability. Silicon Graphics is also a participating member of the
Gigabit Ethernet Alliance (GEA), actively contributing to the success of Gigabit Ethernet technology.
"At Composite Imaging Systems (CIS), we deliver digital visual effects for feature films such as Batman & Robin and Dante's Peak and for television commercials including Kellogg's and
McDonalds," said Dick Caine, vice president of New Technology at CIS. "The fast new BDSPro read/write capabilities enable us to perform the whole workflow, from client input to client output, a
lot faster than previously possible. We are now able to store the images at a central location, a large
HIPPI array, that provides easy access to the digital artists who manipulate the images."
Pricing and Availability
BDSPro 2.0 is priced at $5,000 (U.S. List) per server license with unlimited clients and is available
immediately from Silicon Graphics and its worldwide distribution channels. XIO and PCI Gigabit
Ethernet adapters will be available Q1, 1998 with pricing set at that time. SOURCE Silicon Graphics
Inc. |
