ServerNet is a

switched fabric Switched fabric or switching fabric is a network topology in which network Node (networking), nodes interconnect via one or more network switches (particularly crossbar switches). Because a switched fabric network spreads network traffic across m ...

communications link primarily used in proprietary computers made by

Tandem Computers Tandem Computers, Inc. was the dominant manufacturer of fault-tolerant computer systems for Automated teller machine, ATM networks, banks, stock exchanges, telephone switching centers, and other similar commercial transaction processing applicati ...

Compaq Compaq Computer Corporation (sometimes abbreviated to CQ prior to a 2007 rebranding) was an American information technology company founded in 1982 that developed, sold, and supported computers and related products and services. Compaq produced ...

, and HP. Its features include good

scalability Scalability is the property of a system to handle a growing amount of work by adding resources to the system. In an economic context, a scalable business model implies that a company can increase sales given increased resources. For example, a ...

, clean fault containment, error detection and

failover Failover is switching to a redundant or standby computer server, system, hardware component or network upon the failure or abnormal termination of the previously active application, server, system, hardware component, or network in a computer net ...

. The ServerNet architecture specification defines a connection between nodes, either

processor Processor may refer to: Computing Hardware * Processor (computing) **Central processing unit (CPU), the hardware within a computer that executes a program *** Microprocessor, a central processing unit contained on a single integrated circuit (I ...

or high performance I/O nodes such as storage devices.

History

developed the original ServerNet architecture and protocols for use in its own proprietary computer systems starting in 1992, and released the first ServerNet systems in 1995. Early attempts to license the technology and interface chips to other companies failed, due in part to a disconnect between the culture of selling complete hardware / software / middleware computer systems and that needed for selling and supporting chips and licensing technology. A follow-on development effort ported the

Virtual Interface Architecture The Virtual Interface Architecture (VIA) is an abstract model of a user-level zero-copy network, and is the basis for InfiniBand, iWARP and RoCE. Created by Microsoft, Intel, and Compaq, the original VIA sought to standardize the interface for hi ...

to ServerNet with PCI interface boards connecting personal computers.

Infiniband InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also used ...

directly inherited many ServerNet features. As of 2017, systems still ship based on the ServerNet architecture.

References

* W. E. Baker, R. Horst, D. Sonnier, W. Watson, "A Flexible ServerNet-based Fault-Tolerant Architecture," in Proc. 25th Int. Symp. Fault-Tolerant Computing, Pasadena, CA, June 27–30 1995. * R. Horst, "ServerNet Deadlock Avoidance and Fractahedral Topologies," in Proc. 10th Int'l Parallel Processing Symposium, Honolulu, Hawaii, pp. 274–280, 1995. * D. Garcia, et al., "Servernet II", Parallel Computer Routing and Communication International Workshop, Jun. 26, 1997, pp. 119–135, XP002103164, Atlanta, GA. * R. Horst and D. Garcia, "ServerNet SAN I/O Architecture," Proc. Hot Interconnects V, August 1997. * D.R Avresky, V. Shurbanov, R. Horst, “The effect of router arbitration policy on scalability of ServerNet Topologies,” Microprocessors and Microsystems 21, pp. 545–561, 1998. * D.R Avresky, V. Shurbanov, R. Horst, W. Watson, L. Young, D. Jewett. “Performance Modeling of ServerNet SAN Topologies,”

The Journal of Supercomputing ''The Journal of Supercomputing'' is an academic computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, ...

, V. 14, pp. 19–37, 1999. * D.R Avresky, V. Shurbanov, R. Wilkinson, R. Horst, W. Watson, L. Young, “ Maximum delivery time and hot spots in ServerNet topologies, Computer Networks 31, pp. 1891–1910, 1999. * A. Hossain, S. Kang, R. Horst, “ ServerNet and ATM Interconnects: Comparison for Compressed Video Transmission,” Journal of Communications and Networks, V. 1, No. 2, June 1999. Computer networks Supercomputing