SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Intel Corp. here today will enter the network-server market, announcing a systems-level product based on a new line of packet-processing chips.
The Optical Services Platform is a server-like system architecture designed to boost the speeds in fiber-optic networks at transmission rates of up to 2.5 gigabites per second (OC-48), according to Tony Stelliga, general manager of Intel's recently-formed Optical Processing Operation (OPO).
At this week's Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Jose, Intel plans to demonstrate a server capable of supporting OC-192 for 10-Gbit/sec. transmission rates, Stelliga said.
Intel will sell its server products to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and other end-user customers. But the company will also sell the chip- and board-level products within the server line to OEMs as well, he said.
Intel's OPO organization will play a key role in bringing the company into the carrier-class equipment and chip markets. This operation was formerly known as Softcom Microsystems Inc., a network-processor supplier that Intel acquired last year for about $150 million.
Prior to the acquisition, Softcom was developing chip- and board-level products for OC-12 applications. "Over the last year, we've had our heads down in order to focus on the OC-48 market," said Stelliga, the former president and chief executive of Softcom, in an interview with SBN.
Under the Intel umbrella, the former Softcom operation will expand its charter, selling systems, boards, and chips.
On the systems side, the company will offer the Optical Services Platform, a product that runs the Linux operating system software. "Traditionally, servers have been clustered in the enterprise, but they have been isolated from the network," Stelliga said. "We're bringing the server to the optical network."
The server consists of a board-level product called the GigaBlade, which resides in the PCI slot in the system. The GigaBlade product includes the company's new network-processor line--the IXF6401, which is a packet-processor designed to support ATM, SONET, and related LAN/WAN networks.
The server, GigaBlade, and IXF6401 chips are now available. Prices for the products were not disclosed.
