Voltaire is announcing general availability of its 40Gbit/s quad data rate InfiniBand switch at today's International SuperComputing 2009 event.

The company launched an Ethernet switch earlier this month: an 8500 with 288 ports. But InfiniBand is still Boss Hogg, as the Grid Director 4700 features a 51.8Tbit/s backplane bandwidth and 324 40Gbit/s ports, with the option to double capacity to 648 ports using double-density fabric boards. Voltaire reckons it has the lowest latency in the industry.

Voltaire also want us to know that its low 6.5-watts-per-port power consumption makes the switch a greener choice for energy-efficient data centres.

Competitor QLogic is demonstrating its 12000 family of edge and director-class 40Git/s InfiniBand products at ISC 2009 too. The top dog 12000 has 864 ports and bandwidth of 51.8Tbit/sec. Looks like it's got Voltaire beat in the biggest IB box stakes. ®

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