Microsoft backs away from InfiniBand
C|Net | at | by Mike
Microsoft, one of the early InfiniBand backers, has reversed an earlier plan to build support for the high-speed networking technology into its next server version of Windows. Microsoft believes most customers will prefer to extend existing Ethernet networking and therefore has dropped InfiniBand software that had been planned for its next server operating system, Windows .Net Server, due at the end of the year.
Microsoft, though still a member of the InfiniBand Trade Association's steering committee, is more guarded. With today's curtailed computer equipment spending, customers "are gravitating toward evolutionary technologies," Microsoft said. "Gigabit Ethernet technologies, while not as (high-performance) today as InfiniBand, are now able to address the demands a higher range of server capabilities with no additional software or management expense." Microsoft's strength lies in lower-end servers where InfiniBand support is no longer taken for granted.