DCC delivers high performance switching and network connectivity with Mellanox

Drive Control Corporation (DCC) has become the first official distributor in South Africa of Mellanox Technologies, leaders in end-to-end InfiniBand & EtherNet connectivity solutions. Mellanox manufactures products which optimise data centre performance and deliver bandwidth, scalability, power conservation and cost-effectiveness. The company offers innovative solutions that address a wide range of markets including high performance computing (HPC), enterprise data centres, cloud computing, Internet and Web 2.0.

“As computing and networking have evolved, the requirement for ever faster datatransfer speeds has grown too. Mellanox products have, over the past few years, been fine-tuned to meet these changing needs, and their connectivity equipment has been implemented extensively on a global scale. We are pleased to be able to bring these specialised solutions to the South African market,” says Raul Del Fabbro, Manager: Storage Solutions Division at DCC.

DCC will be distributing the entire product range, including:

• Adapter cards – designed to drive the full performance of high-speed InfiniBand and 10/40 Gigabit Ethernet fabrics.
• InfiniBand switch systems – deliver high-bandwidth and low-latency to Enterprise Data Centres, High-Performance Computing and Embedded environments.
• Ethernet switch systems – more scalable, lower latency, and virtualised fabric with lower overall fabric costs and power consumption, greater efficiencies, and simplified management.
• Gateway systems – enable data centres to operate in high-performance 40Gb/s network speed on the hosts, while at the same time, connect to lower speed Gigabit and 10GigE LAN networks and 2, 4, 8Gb/s Fibre Channel SAN networks, providing I/O consolidation.
• Management software – provides an innovative application-centric approach to bridge the gap between servers, applications and fabric elements.
• Acceleration software – reduce latency, increase throughput, and offload CPU cycles, enhancing the performance of applications while eliminating the need for large investments in hardware infrastructure.
• Software drivers and tools – high performance interconnect software for HPC and enterprise data centres.
• Cables – a cost-effective solution for connecting high bandwidth fabrics, extending the benefits of Mellanox’s high-performance InfiniBand and 10 and 40 Gigabit Ethernet adapters throughout the network.
“We took on this product range after receiving several requests from system integrators for high speed network components for their customers. After sourcing these products and implementing them in several local applications, we received positive feedback from clients on the success of the installations and decided to pursue a direct distributorship,” Del Fabbro explains.

“We met with the team from Mellanox, who felt there was much synergy between our organisations, given our skills in storage area network (SAN) solutions and that we are an existing distributor for one of Mellanox’s major Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). Mellanox was also satisfied that we have the focused capability and specialist skills necessary to apply their products to the solutions our partners deliver,” he adds.

The Mellanox range complements DCC’s existing SAN solutions offering and opens up new avenues and markets, enabling the distributor to address a niche in the market and take advantage of growing opportunities in the high performance networking space. Mellanox’s range also meets another growing requirement of going green and implementing more energy efficient solutions, thanks to their smaller physical footprint, higher port density and lower energy consumption when compared to standard networking products.

“There are a number of opportunities and applications for the Mellanox range, and we expect that these products will see strong growth in the future, although because of its specialised nature this may not be an overnight occurrence. We will be working to create awareness for the brand over the next few months, providing training for selected resellers and later in the year hosting a comprehensive product launch,” says Del Fabbro.

The Mellanox range is available immediately from selected system integrators and resellers.