Even when faced with InfiniBand’s numerous benefits, a number of CIOs will undoubtedly resist the technology, convinced that they simply don’t need the new capabilities. But Lauri Vickers, a senior analyst at Cahners In-Stat Group, a technology research company in Scottsdale, Ariz., thinks that most of those CIOs will find themselves being pushed over to InfiniBand before too long. She compares the technology’s introduction to the way PCI replaced ISA technology on desktop PCs several years ago. "Eventually, if you wanted the latest and greatest video card and you wanted the best sound card, you could only find them in the PCI format," she says. "It’s something that just happens, whether you want it or not."

Interoperability headaches loom as yet another potential InfiniBand roadblock. Ambiguities in the InfiniBand specification, which leaves certain communications functions to vendor discretion, could create conflicts between products. But Alisa Nessler, Lane15’s president and CEO, doesn’t believe that will develop into a major problem, since a wide range of InfiniBand vendors are already working with each other as InfiniBand Trade Association members. "I think you’ll see vendors reach a consensus on interoperability issues fairly rapidly," she says.

Power Saver?

One InfiniBand attribute advocated by some supporters is the technology’s potential power-saving capability?an important consideration for energy-conscious organizations, especially those with operations in California. There’s no need for a network interface card between an InfiniBand server and an InfiniBand switch, Vickers says. "If you eliminate enough of them, you can start powering some homes."

PCI cards can consume as much as 30 watts of power, claims Eyal Waldman, chairman and CEO of Mellanox Technologies, an InfiniBand silicon provider in Santa Clara, Calif. "InfiniBand replaces those PCI cards and could potentially reduce power consumption by 33 percent," Waldman says. Vickers notes, however, that an organization would have to dump a lot of network cards to see any meaningful power savings.

Whether or not InfiniBand turns out to be a significant power saver, the technology’s numerous other benefits appear to guarantee it a place on the acceptance fast track. IDC’s Turner sees no reason why InfiniBand won’t ultimately succeed. "I believe that the risks are for those not adopting this technology," he says. AMR’s Urban is urging CIOs to wait on major server purchases, "because if you buy something right now, two years down the road the thing’s going to be totally obsolete." Aberdeen’s Tanner is even more succinct: "InfiniBand will become the industry standard."