Omni-Path is a high-performance communication architecture owned by Intel. This communication architecture offers low communication latency, low power consumption and a high throughput. Intel plans to develop technology based on this architecture that will serve as the on-ramp to exascale computing.
Contents
Production of Omni-Path products started in 2015 and mass delivery of these products started in the first quarter of 2016. In November 2015, adapters were launched using QSFP28 connectors with channels speeds up to 100 Gbit/s. Simultaneously, switches based on the 48-port "Prairie River" ASIC were launched.
API
As of April 2016, implementation of the InfiniBand verbs API for the Omni-Path fabric is under development.
Alternatives
In October 2016, IBM, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Dell, Lenovo, Samsung, Seagate Technology, Micron, Western Digital and SK Hynix announced a joint consortium to develop an open specification and architecture for non-volatile storage and memory products—including Intel's forthcoming 3D Xpoint—which will in part compete against Omni-Path.