InfiniBand is formed by the combination of “infinite” and “bandwidth”, which means “infinite bandwidth”. It represents a network technology or a hardware interface that is characterized by low latency times and transmits data serially at high speed over short distances.
Infinite routers break down large networks into smaller sub-networks in order to connect them effectively with routers. It is primarily used in data centers for server connections, computer clusters and high-performance computing environments. It can also be used in the integration of mass storage systems, such as in storage area networks (SAN) in conjunction with artificial intelligence. The InfiniBand standard enables a raw data rate of 10 Gbit/s via 4X cable and supports various transmission rates. With a maximum data rate of 40 Gbps over 4X cable and 120 Gbps over 12X cable, InfiniBand offers outstanding performance and scalability. InfiniBand uses point-to-point connections for low-data transmission with latency times below 2 µs and achieves theoretical data transmission rates per channel between 2.5 Gbit/s (SDR) and 50 Gbit/s (HDR) in both directions. The connection can be easily expanded by bundling channels.
The benefits of InfiniBand include high performance and efficiency; management flexibility; low latency and high throughput; enabling fast communication and high scalability of high-performance workloads such as data mining, deep learning and predictive analytics.