The emergence of cloud computing gives InfiniBand a new look from cloud computing providers, or enterprises that want infrastructure that matches providers.  InfiniBand was touted as the high-performance networking option of choice in 2000.  However, InfiniBand struggled to gain wide acceptance in the enterprise.

Clearly, InfiniBand has found its niche in the cloud market.  Cloud data centers consolidate server, storage and network functions in central locations.  As system configurations become more concentrated, there is a need for higher bandwidth network connections.  InfiniBand, which operates at 56 Gbps, is a proven, mature, high-speed network option.  The bandwidth is required from server-to-server and sever-to-storage.  This is something that traditional Ethernet can’t match.

While Ethernet has been the technology of choice in the enterprise data center, it has limitations in regard to these high bandwidth needs.  As cloud computing becomes more popular, and more data centers become cloud consumers and providers, the need for this technology will only grow.  Count on InfiniBand to solve some of the bandwidth issues that cloud computing will experience as it grows from simple to complex use.