Aricent targets Ethernet manufacturers for data center applications

A new software framework announced today from Aricent is aimed at manufacturers of Ethernet equipment that are developing products for data center applications.

As Shrikant Latkar, associate vice president of worldwide products and solutions marketing for Aricent, explained, the rise of virtualized cloud computing is driving the convergence of Ethernet and storage networking technologies such as Fibre Channel within the data center. Manufacturers, he said, are seeking to develop products that combine features of both types of technologies, thereby minimizing or eliminating separate Ethernet and storage networking silos that have many duplicate capabilities.

“All of the major vendors have announced product road maps,” Latkar said. “We provide the software to enable vendors to deliver on their road map more quickly.”

Latkar anticipates a “multi-year transition” to the new converged switching products, which he expects to see shipping in volume in three to five years.

Aricent’s new software framework is an enhanced version of the company’s Intelligent Switching Solution (ISS) offering. Available on a licensed basis to equipment manufacturers, ISS aims to eliminate the need for the manufacturer to develop its own solutions for functions such as priority flow control, enhanced transmission selection, congestion notification and data center bridging extensions.

Aricent says its ISS software suite has been used in advanced switching products from more than 60 manufacturers worldwide.