X-bit labs

Search

Advanced search

Services

Print article

Send link to friend

Digg this

Post to del.icio.us

Post to Slashdot

Information

X-bit Labs for mobile users! Do not forget that we are running a special version of X-bit Labs web-site for users of mobile and handheld devices: http://pda.xbitlabs.com. Check out our news and articles from smartphones and PDAs to be always updated on the latest computer and technology news.

Articles: Editorial

X-bit labs CeBIT 2005 Coverage: Day 6 (page 2)

Category: Editorial

by Anton Shilov

[ 03/17/2005 | 04:37 PM ]

ServerWorks’ HT2000 Chipset Emerges on the Surface

Historically ServerWorks, a subsidiary of Broadcom, developed core-logic components for high-end dual-processor or multi-processor servers and workstations powered by chips from Intel Corp. and did not touch other platforms. Ctarting from mid-2003 rumours started to suggest that the company might have plans to introduce a chipset for AMD Opteron-based computers. Finally, at Computex Taipei 2004 Broadcom and Advanced Micro Devices inked a strategic agreement and said that Broadcom would develop a core-logic for AMD Opteron-powered applications. Now, at CeBIT 2005 ServerWorks is quietly showcasing its first AMD64 chipset.

At the show in Hannover Arima is demonstrating is SW500 mainboard based on ServerWorks HT2000 chipset for 4-way AMD Opteron based servers. The mainboard itself is equipped with 16 DIMM slots supporting PC3200 memory as well as PCI Express slots.

Arima SW500 mainboard

ServerWorks’ HT2000 is the second server-oriented chipset for AMD Opteron processors after NVIDIA’s nForce Professional that features PCI Express bus, but unlike the nForce it does sport PCI-X, but does not provide PCI Express x16 (only x4 and x8 lanes), NVIDIA’s enhancements, such as TCP/IP offload engine and MediaShield RAID capabilities, which implies that it is intended mostly for servers, not workstations. The HT2000 + HT1000 I/O chips sport hot-swappable 4 Serial ATA II ports, Parallel ATA, two port Gigabit Ethernet, PCI, PCI-X, USB 2.0, SMBus, LPC and other input/output capabilities.

Mellanox InfiniHost III Ex

Arima’s SW500 (some suggest that the correct name is SW5100) mainboard also integrates Mellanox InfiniHost III Ex, a single chip dual-port 10Gb/s InfiniBand host channel adapter with a PCI Express x8 interface and integrated physical layer serializer/deserializer (SerDes) interfaces. The device features a 3^rd generation HCA core that is capable of full wire speed transmissions over InfiniBand links up to 20 Gb/sec. The chip has its own memory interface for additional performance. InfiniBand may be used for linking an array of servers into clusters.