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Start-up ships samples of InfiniBand chips

Start-up Mellanox has begun shipping development versions of chips that used in hardware to join the PCI slots of today's servers to the InfiniBand communication system expected to gradually supplant PCI. This "bridging" hardware is an important first stage in the adoption of InfiniBand, which offers higher speed and reliability than PCI. Eventually, servers and other devices are expected to come with native support for InfiniBand rather than requiring bridging technology. Intel, which sells its own InfiniBand chips, is an investor in Mellanox, based in Santa Clara, Calif., and Yokneam, Israel. Mellanox's first chips will go on sale in the second quarter and will cost $196 apiece in quantities of 10,000.

Stephen Shankland Former Principal Writer
Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
Expertise Processors, semiconductors, web browsers, quantum computing, supercomputers, AI, 3D printing, drones, computer science, physics, programming, materials science, USB, UWB, Android, digital photography, science. Credentials
  • Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
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Stephen Shankland
Start-up Mellanox has begun shipping development versions of chips that used in hardware to join the PCI slots of today's servers to the InfiniBand communication system expected to gradually supplant PCI. This "bridging" hardware is an important first stage in the adoption of InfiniBand, which offers higher speed and reliability than PCI. Eventually, servers and other devices are expected to come with native support for InfiniBand rather than requiring bridging technology.

Intel, which sells its own InfiniBand chips, is an investor in Mellanox, based in Santa Clara, Calif., and Yokneam, Israel. Mellanox's first chips will go on sale in the second quarter and will cost $196 apiece in quantities of 10,000.