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Topspin Debuts Intelligent Backplane for On Demand Computing; Programmable Switch Turns Commodity Server Clusters into Flexible Grid Computing Architectures

Posted on: Monday, 23 June 2003, 06:00 CDT

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 23, 2003--Topspin Communications, the leader in switched computing, announced today a significant technology enhancement to its Switched Computing System. Topspin has added a hardware abstraction layer and programmable APIs to its switches which provide the first server, storage, and software agnostic programmable interconnect for creating flexible grid computing architectures.

Topspin's new technology will be on display at Cluster World Conference and Expo, June 24-26, booth #113. Topspin will demonstrate how the Switched Computing System translates policies--defined by third-party and homegrown provisioning applications--into actions that map server, storage, and networking resources together on the fly.

"Topspin is the first company to enable on demand computing exclusively at the interconnect level," said Vernon Turner, Group Vice President, Global Enterprise Server Solutions, IDC. "With standards-based technology compatible with all server, storage, and software resources, Topspin has positioned itself as a strong partner for any of the large system and application vendors looking to bring the on-demand computing vision to market."

By clustering servers and implementing system and data mapping intelligence through a single switch, Topspin enables core enterprise applications, like databases, to scale up and down based on business requirements.

"Oracle has worked closely with Topspin for the last year to enable highly scalable database clusters across InfiniBand," said Benny Souder, vice president of Distributed Database Development, Oracle Corporation. "With additional ability to program connections through their switches, we believe Topspin's solution can provide a superb networking foundation for Oracle's grid architecture where computing and data resources are provisioned on the fly. This provides customers with the ability to securely, efficiently, and dynamically align resources based on their business needs.

"This is a major milestone in completing our switched computing vision," said Stu Aaron, Vice President, Marketing and Business Development at Topspin. "With our programmable switches, I/O gateways and mapping intelligence, we're raising the bar for cluster interconnect solutions. And, we're committed to helping the major system and software vendors deliver their flexible computing visions."

Topspin's Switched Computing Systems enable flexible computing by providing three building blocks in one solution.

1) An extremely fast InfiniBand-based switch for interconnecting

volume servers into highly scalable application clusters

2) An intelligent backplane for linking these clusters with their

storage and networking resources through InfiniBand-to-Fibre

Channel and InfiniBand-to-Ethernet gateways

3) And now, the new hardware abstraction layer with APIs through

which third-party provisioning applications can direct the

switch to implement policies

The Topspin switch uses externally defined policies to decide when and how to establish connections between server, storage, and networking resources required by each application. The switch moves application images from storage to server and links each server with the appropriate amount of storage and network bandwidth as needed. By automating the process of interconnecting resources, Topspin eliminates the most costly and labor-intensive part of the application provisioning process.

About Topspin

Topspin is a systems company that provides the foundation for switched computing, a new computing model enabling industry-standard computing resources to be rapidly deployed to match the dynamic needs of business applications. Topspin delivers a compelling return on investment by improving server and network utilization, promoting resource flexibility, and dramatically reducing equipment and management costs. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Topspin has assembled a first-rate management team and world-class investors, blending together a wealth of experience in the four key technology areas that converge on the enterprise data center--server, storage, networking, and applications. Additional information is available at www.topspin.com or by calling 1-866-TOPSPIN.

(C) Copyright 2003, Topspin Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. Topspin is a registered trademark and the Topspin logo and Topspin Switched Computing System are trademarks of Topspin Communications, Inc. Other company, product, or service names are the property of their respective owners.

Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates.

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