IBM will begin offering Infiniband networking to connect bare metal servers in its Softlayer data centers. The new option enables very high-speed throughput and low latency between servers in a high-performance computing (HPC) cluster.
IBM said the introduction on InfiniBand on SoftLayer will especially benefit customers who are leveraging fully supported, ready-to-run clusters complete with code name IBM Elastic Storage, IBM Platform LSF or Platform Symphony workload management.
“As more and more companies migrate their toughest workloads to the cloud, they’re now demanding that vendors provide high speed networking performance to keep up,” said SoftLayer CEO Lance Crosby. “Our InfiniBand support is helping to push the technological envelope while redefining how cloud computing can be used to solve complex business issues.”
InfiniBand delivers high transfer speeds of up to 56 Gbps.
IBM Chalks up Gains from Softlayer Acquisition
One year after acquiring Softlayer for $2 billion, IBM reported continued gains in its cloud leadership positions in terms of new enterprise customers and the launch of differentiated services.
IBM said the hybrid cloud model is catching on with new enterprise customers such as Macy’s, Whirlpool, Daimler subsidiary moovel Gmbh, Sicoss Group and others. Clients can maintain on-premise control of key applications and data while moving other workloads – so-called systems of engagement with customers and partners — to the cloud for quick access to data, expansion of new services and cost reductions. The company says nearly half of its top 100 strategic outsourcing clients, who are among the world’s largest enterprises, are already implementing cloud solutions with IBM as they transition to a hybrid cloud model.
IBM now has over 1,000 business partners signed on to offer their services on SoftLayer, ranging from leading global players such as Avnet, Arrow Electronics and Ingram Micro, to cloud-based services and solution providers like Mirantis, Assimil8, Silverstring, Clipcard, SilverSky, and Cnetric Enterprise Solutions.
SoftLayer is expected to play a pivotal role in delivering IBM’s rich data and analytics portfolio. Already more than 300 services within the IBM cloud marketplace are is based on SoftLayer.
In June, IBM opened the first of two new Softlayer Cloud Services data centers designed and dedicated for U.S. government workloads and compliant with Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) and Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) requirements.
The first of the new data centers is located in Dallas, Texas Later this year, IBM anticipates activating a companion center in Ashburn, Virginia. Each of the high-security data centers will have initial capacity for 30,000 servers. They will be connected by an isolated, robust private network with 2 Tbps of capacity.
