Many RDMA Consortium members believe the technology when applied to TCP/IP will make Ethernet the most compelling of multiple emerging interconnects to link servers, switches and storage devices in future data centers. Consortium members include Adaptec, Broadcom, Cisco, EMC, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Microsoft and Network Appliance.

"No single I/O technology will solve all problems and no customer will rip up what they have today in favor of a new technology, so we have to work in an heterogeneous environment of fabrics," said Karl Walker, chief technical officer of Hewlett-Packard's PC server group. "However, the one technology we feel will become most pervasive will be the one built upon TCP/IP and Ethernet."

The RDMA Consortium accelerated its work on the wire spec to meet the deadline set by a companion Remote Direct Data Placement working group at the IETF that plans to submit a draft spec this month. The IETF group hopes to submit a final standard for approval to the IETF in two steps - one in July and another in October 2003.

Separately, the RDMA Consortium is developing additional RDMA specs to address software drivers, iSCSI support and other systems-related issues outside the IETF's charter. The group said it expects to finish those specs by March 2003. RDMA will also require support from operating systems, something Microsoft Corp. is expected to deliver given its active presence in the consortium.

Walker said he expects first products using RDMA over TCP/IP will emerge in early 2004. The RDMA feature will require some additional silicon support. Consortium members expect it will be implemented in TCP offload engine chips, called TOEs, now being developed by multiple chip makers.

The planned time line would put 1-Gbit/second Ethernet with TOE and RDMA support behind the availability of Infiniband, which already has RDMA and is available at 10-Gbit/s speeds over copper. That time lag will give some market traction to Infiniband, a new technology that is generally more expensive than Ethernet, but provides high data rates and lower latencies.

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