Today, the IBTA announced Release 1.3 of the InfiniBand Architecture Specification Volume 1. Dedicated to our mission to maintain and further the specification, we worked to incorporate capabilities to help keep up with the increasing customer demand for expedited data transfer and accessibility. This effort resulted in a fresh version of the specification, which incorporates new features that enable computer systems to match the continuous high performance computing and data center needs required for increased stability and bandwidth, as well as high computing efficiency, availability and isolation.
The rapid evolution of the computer and internet have left existing interconnect technologies struggling to keep pace. The increasing popularity of high-end computing concepts like clustering, CPU offloads and movement of large amounts of data demand a robust fabric.
Additionally, I/O devices are now expected to have link-level data protection, traffic isolation, deterministic behavior and a high quality of service. In order to help meet these needs, the IBTA developed InfiniBand Architecture (IBA) in 2000 and has continued to update the specification suite as the industry evolves.
As a result of this initiative, the updated Volume 1.3 enables notable improvements in scalability with deeper visibility into switch-fabric configuration for improved monitoring of traffic patterns and network maintenance. The updated specification allows for more in-depth cable management with greater accessibility to cables for improved diagnostics mechanisms allowing for shorter response times and improved messaging capabilities, thus improving overall network performance.
