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News Release from: PLX Technology Europe | Subject: PEX 8548 PCIe switches
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 05 May 2008
Switches speed Sun's CMT servers
Two PLX ExpressLane PEX 8548 PCIe switches each interface to a Sun UltraSPARC T2 Plus processor through a x8 PCIe link integrated directly into a processor silicon.
A number of PLX PEX 8548 PCIe switches for high-performance PCIe fanout and slot expansion have been designed to support the breakthrough Sun SPARC Enterprise T5140 and T5240 servers The PEX 8548 is a highly flexible 48-lane PCIe switch, and the Sun SPARC Enterprise T5140 and T5240 servers - powered by the Sun UltraSPARC T2 Plus processor, are the world's first dual-socket chip multithreading (CMT) servers, supporting up to 128 threads in as little as 1RU, designed for demanding enterprise and OLTP database applications
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 20 Aug 2002 at 8.00am (UK)
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Two PLX ExpressLane PEX 8548 PCIe switches each interface to a Sun UltraSPARC T2 Plus processor through a x8 PCIe link integrated directly into a processor silicon, which provides fanout to onboard devices and up to six x8 PCIe slots for I/O expansion.
The Sun SPARC Enterprise T5140 and T5240 servers claim world-record throughput and energy and space efficiency, while championing the first SMP servers to increase performance by scaling with increased compute threads, rather than a higher frequency, thus minimising power and space consumption.
With 16 cores, 128 compute threads, 16 disk drives and 128Gbyte of memory in a 2RU space, organisations can get up to 5x higher performance and 2.5x higher performance per watt in half the space compared with similar x86-based systems, thus transforming their web scale and enterprise application infrastructure with unsurpassed throughput, while slashing capital and operational expenses.
Further reading
Interconnect devices support PCI Express
PLX Technology is developing I/O interconnect devices based on the next-generation input/output architecture PCI Express.
Upgraded PCI drivers speed I/O accelerators
The latest software development kit from PLX Technology dramatically boosts performance - up to 42 times - in Linux and Microsoft Windows XP drivers for all PLX I/O accelerator devices.
The PEX 8548 is a high-performance 48-lane nine-port PCIe switch launched in September 2006 and is in full production with designs underway at a variety of companies across multiple global market segments.
Key attributes include a remarkable low latency of 110ns, an energy-saving low power requirement of only 4.9W (typical), flexible port configurations (x1, x2, x4, x8, x16), true peer-to-peer communication, and native hot-plug ports ensuring RAS (reliability, availability and serviceability).
"Sun SPARC Enterprise servers with CoolThreads technology deliver breakthrough performance with dramatic space and power efficiency", says Warren Mootrey, Director Volume SPARC Servers, Sun Microsystems.
"These PLX chips support Sun's cutting-edge UltraSPARC T2 Plus processors in maintaining the world's fastest and most innovative servers".
"As the market leader in advanced PCIe interconnect solutions, PLX has delivered the high-performance PCI Express technology requirements of key customers like Sun", says David Raun, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at PLX Technology.
"Sun demands very high-speed connectivity and quality of service, and we are pleased that they find PLX products are exceeding all expectations".
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