New 32-port switch arrives Still looking to score with high-performance computing, clustering, and large enterprise customers, InfiniCon Systems on Monday introduced three 1U-high switches packed with 32 10Gbps ports.The King of Prussia, Pa. -based startup is one of a handful of companies developing switches based on InfiniBand. The new family, dubbed InfinIO 3000, features what InfiniCon CEO Chuck Foley called a “leaf” and “core” switch. Foley explained that the core switch is more expensive, has more features, and is designed to be placed in the middle of a network to connect islands of servers, while the leaf switch has less functionality, is lower cost, and is placed at the edge of the network. Both are required by his customers, he said.“These switches are squarely targeted at HPC [high-performance computing], database cluster, and enterprise cluster customers,” Foley said. “Several large enterprises such as Fujitsu are running their own applications in a distributed way.” InfiniBand for some time has been looking for a niche beyond HPC, Foley pointed out. In support of the InfiniBand-based product, he touted the cost and performance of the new switch.“This switch is 300 [percent] to 600 percent faster than other 10Gbps switches,” Foley said. “At $27,995 for the switch, it [costs] about $900 per port. That is 150th of the price of a 10Gb [Ethernet] port.”InfiniCon also announced that the 32 ports in the switch can be turned on as needed. This means a customer can buy as few or as many ports as needed, and purchase a software key at a later time that unlocks access to additional ports on the switch. Foley concluded by saying the company will be talking about switches with 30Gbps by year’s end. Technology Industry