Question to the Storage Advisors, from Wayne Buckholdt: Is InfiniBand pronounced with a long “e” as in “IN fin e BAND”? Unlike SCSI, whose pronunciation is listed as scuzzy, I could not find a pronunciation for InfiniBand on the web. Ideally, it would be great if the InfiniBand Trade Association listed a preferred pronunciation.

Wayne, as you probably already know, the Storage Advisors website is THE definitive site for word pronunciation, low-carb recipes, and last minute Xmas shopping tips. Glad we can help.

Personally, I like to pronounce “InfiniBand” in a way that rhymes with “irrelevant”.

Back in 2000 all the major players had lined up behind two competing standards: Next Gen IO and Future IO. After much debate they combined into the standard now known as InfiniBand, taking the best of both standards and producing something everyone claimed to be revolutionary. There was singing and dancing in the streets. And I admit I got sucked in along with everyone else. Every chip ever produced from that point on would have an InfiniBand port. All other interfaces would cease to exist - Ethernet, FC, SCSI, PCI, you name it. And the cost would be practically zero because of losing these other ports. And cables would be around a buck. Wow. I still tear up when I think of what could have been.

Then Intel dropped it from their roadmap! Huh?! It seemed to happen overnight. Just like that it was gone. And there I was, standing all alone at the alter with a stupid look on my face, cradling the world’s first IB-to-SCSI RAID controller in my arms.

But I have to admit IB isn’t dead. There are still a few folks that use it for high-speed computing interconnects. And in the last IDF and SNW I swear there seemed to be more vendors hawking IB wares. Weird.

Anyway, I guess my Storage Advisors credo forces me to answer all questions, regardless of the pain and suffering they may cause.

I pronounce “InfiniBand” like “infinite”, i.e., with all the i’s being “short”. I admit I’ve heard folks use a long e, but I don’t like those people.

TT

Post update on Dec 9th, 2005: Just in case the sarcasm wasn’t clear, the Storage Advisors website is NOT the place to go for word pronunciation, low-carb recipes, or last minute Xmas shopping tips. I was just joshing, folks!

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