Light at the end of Intel's Silicon Photonics: 100Gbps network tech finally shipping, sorta

Intel is beginning volume shipments of its fabled Silicon Photonics networking technology, which uses light through thin glass fibers to replace copper wires. This tech can shuttle up to 100Gbps over 2km or more of cable that's just a few millimeters thick, creating a high-speed nervous-system for clusters and data centers. As …

[Kernel]

New technology???

I haven't encountered CWDM 100G technology before (possibly because those of our customers I work with haven't deployed it), but those same customers already have plenty of 100G PSM4 plugins deployed.

[Gerhard Mack]

Re: New technology???

This seems more about using an easier to manufacture method for creating the transceivers rather than doing something completely new. The way they are talking, this new method will be much cheaper but time will tell.

[diodesign]

Re: New technology???

Well, the new technology is building silicon that can drive and receive these lasers. The dream is to put this right into the chipsets but right now, we've got discrete transceivers, like the ones from Mellanox.

C.

[Dead Parrot]

Computers with frickin' lasers!?

Time to buy a dog & a shotgun and head to the desert.

(and the same day that the Knights Mill AI chips are announced, no less. Intel, we need to talk...)

[calmeilles]

"technology, which uses light through thin glass fibers to replace copper wires" Reads like a press release circa 1994.

[Trevor_Pott]

Looks like a QSFP28 transceiver. Does it have lower latency than Mellanox? When do we get modules that can split into 10 instead of 4? 10x 10GbE as a breakout cable is a lot more useful to me than 4x 25GbE...