Unveils Key Enhancements in Volume 1 Release 1.8 Specification

BEAVERTON, Ore., September 10, 2024 – The InfiniBand® Trade Association (IBTA), a global organization dedicated to developing and furthering the adoption of RDMA technologies, today announced several key milestones that highlight the growing impact and industry-wide adoption of InfiniBand and RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE).

In a significant development, the IBTA has experienced a massive increase in membership, more than doubling in size since 2023, signaling robust industry confidence in the future of InfiniBand and RoCE technologies. The surge in membership underscores the vital role these technologies play in enabling artificial intelligence (AI) and scientific computing workloads. According to a recent 650 Group 2024 RDMA Networking Report and Forecast, the demand for RDMA networking exceeded $6 billion in 2023 and is expected to surpass $22 billion by 2028.

Record-Breaking Participation in Annual Plugfest

The recent Annual IBTA Plugfest saw the greatest participation to date, with 20 different members actively participating, including four leading test equipment vendors. During the event, a total of 197 cables were tested, ensuring that products meet the highest standards of interoperability and performance.

Moreover, the RoCE Integrators’ List testing included an impressive array of 29 different interoperability scenarios. These scenarios utilized cables supplied by participating vendors and devices from industry leaders. This high level of participation and rigorous testing further solidifies the reliability and compatibility of InfiniBand and RoCE solutions in real-world deployments.

Launch of Volume 1 Release 1.8 Specification

The IBTA is proud to announce the release of Volume 1 Release 1.8 Specification, a critical update that defines both InfiniBand and RoCE standards. This new specification introduces several enhancements, including:

  • Support for XDR Speed ~200Gb/s per lane: Enabling faster data transfer rates
  • Added Support for XDR FEC: Enhancing data integrity and transmission reliability
  • Introduction of 4 Lane QSFP 800 Gb/s and 8 Lane QSFP-DD and OSFP 1600 Gb/s: Supporting next-generation high-speed interfaces
  • Enhanced Security for RDMA Fabrics: Providing robust protections in data-intensive environments
  • Improved Congestion Control: Incorporating metadata from switches during Network Probes for better traffic management across the fabric
  • Support for Large Radix Switches: Added Class Version 2 to additional attributes in the management chapters, accommodating switches with up to 256 ports

“RDMA networking is seeing significant expansion, fueled by the booming AI market, and the IBTA is witnessing notable increases in membership and engagement, especially at our annual Plugfest,” said Brian Sparks, Marketing Working Group Chair at the IBTA. “The release of Volume 1, Specification 1.8 marks a major advancement, introducing state-of-the-art features that will propel the next generation of high-performance RDMA networking innovation.”

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About the InfiniBand® Trade Association

The InfiniBand® Trade Association was founded in 1999 and is chartered with maintaining and furthering the InfiniBand and the RoCE specifications. The IBTA is led by a distinguished steering committee that includes HPE, IBM, Intel Corporation, Marvell Technology Group and NVIDIA. Other members of the IBTA represent leading enterprise IT vendors who are actively contributing to the advancement of the InfiniBand and RoCE specifications. The IBTA markets and promotes InfiniBand and RoCE from an industry perspective through online, marketing and public relations engagements, and unites the industry through IBTA-sponsored technical events and resources. For more information on the IBTA, visit www.infinibandta.org.

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InfiniBand (TM/SM) and RoCE are trademark and service marks of the IBTA. Other names and brands are the property of their respective owners.

 

Contact:

Denise Jarrett-Weeks

IBTA Administrator

InfiniBand Trade Association

Phone: 503.619.0565

administration@infinibandta.org