????泰西稱：“英特爾提出的、由硅光子學所支撐的架構則幾乎是按照完全相反的方向開發的。實際上，他們是將主要部件分開放置，并用延遲率很低、帶寬極高的連接方式來彌補處理效率的降低?！?/p>

????這正是超大容量光速數據傳輸載體得以成為關鍵支撐要素，并可能改變計算系統設計模式的用武之地。泰西稱，如果要做大數據分析或是操作實時交易數據庫，那就會想要一個大型的連續存儲數據池，而不是在整個數據中心的每臺機架服務器上零星分布，依靠數據線連接的那種存儲數據。靠現有的架構無法做到這一點，但憑借能克服延遲的硅光學芯片的高速傳輸能力，數據中心設計師就能大膽設想了，還能為需要極高運算效率的特定任務定制計算陣列。穆塞爾稱，關鍵在于效率。聯網的機架服務器的運行和冷卻都需要消耗大量電力。而與現有的數據傳輸技術相比，硅光學芯片產生的熱能更少。同時，如果能讓設計師通過集中冷卻某些最需要降溫的部位、而不是平均冷卻設備從而進一步降低能耗，這種技術還能讓他們自由構思數據中心和超大規模計算設施與現有模式完全不同的構建方式。

????穆塞爾稱：“這確實是模式方面的一個大轉變，而如果他人無法做到這一點——即如果這種技術能大幅降低聯網成本，同時通過降低聯網的能耗從而減少總能耗——那就是關鍵價值所在。而且這還能讓英特爾保護自己的主要業務，即處理器?！?/p>

????穆塞爾表示，英特爾以生產業內最大的處理器而著稱，但這些處理器也極為耗能。如果英特爾能降低系統內其他地方的能耗，面對那些可能靠體積更小、能耗更低的處理器打江山的對手，它就能讓它們的價值主張大打折扣。他說：“現在能夠隨心所欲地制造計算系統了，因為英特爾能降低聯網的能耗?！?/p>

????不過這種構建模式的轉變不可能一夜之間實現。泰西表示，對很多應用來說，硅光學技術還太過昂貴（英特爾還未公布官方定價），而且對現在很多注重數據應用的公司來說，大規模計算的其他方面更加重要。除了這項技術本身還不夠成熟外，目前聯網能耗也還沒有達到讓全面上馬硅光學技術的高額成本顯得合情合理的地步。泰西說：“再過幾年，到2020年左右局面就會改觀?！?/p>

????不過，正如穆塞爾所指出的，對英特爾的硅光學技術來說，事情不只是將激光硅芯片植入所有數據中心這么簡單。它事關創造一種全新的模式，讓英特爾的芯片制造這個核心業務及其他大規模計算基礎設施能獲得更大的發展。

????泰西說：“硅光學技術有點像特洛伊木馬，專為基于X86（基于英特爾技術）處理器打造大規模計算系統服務。這是一種創新突破，如果我是英特爾，這也是對抗IBM這種對手的絕好一招?！?/p>

????穆塞爾同意這種說法。

????他說：“這不光是靠硅光學帶來收入的問題，而是關系到英特爾能否改變業界游戲規則的大事?！保ㄘ敻恢形木W）

????譯者：清遠??

????"This architecture that Intel is proposing, enabled by silicon photonics, is almost diametrically opposed," Teich says. "They're actually going to separate the major components and make up for it with a low-latency, high bandwidth connection between them."

????That's where speed-of-light, high-volume data transmission is a critical enabler and potential paradigm-shifter. Ideally, Teich says, if you're doing big data analytics or operating a real-time transactional database, you would want one large, contiguous pool of storage rather than storage distributed across the entire data center, a little on each rack, networked together with cables.You can't do that with current architectures, but with silicon photonics high-speed capability taking latency issues out of the equation, data center designers will be liberated to dream big, as well as to tailor certain arrays for maximum efficiency for the tasks for which they will be used.Efficiency is key here, Mushell says. A great deal of power consumption is tied up in networking server racks together, as well as in keeping them cool. Silicon photonics produces less heat as a by-product than current data transmission tech, and liberating designers to think differently about the way data centers and hyperscale facilities are organized should allow them to further reduce energy load by concentrating cooling to the places it's most needed rather than distributing it evenly throughout the facility.

????"It's really a shift in paradigm, and if no one else can do that -- if this alleviates that networking cost and can reduce the overall power consumption by reducing the consumption from networking -- that's where the key value is," Mushell says. "And it also allows Intel to protect its main line of business, which is processors."

????Intel is known for building the biggest processors in the business, Mushell notes, but those processors are also power-hungry. If Intel can alleviate power consumption elsewhere in the system, it reduces the value proposition for competitors who might enter the space offering smaller but less power-hungry processors. "You can now build whatever you want," he says, "because we're going to reduce the power consumption from networking."

????The paradigm shift won't happen overnight, however. Silicon photonics remains prohibitively expensive for many applications (Intel hasn't yet released official pricing information), Teich says, and there are other aspects of large-scale computing that are higher priorities for many data-focused companies right now. Aside from the technology being somewhat immature, network power consumption isn't quite enough of an economic pain point to justify the huge cost of implementing silicon photonics across the board. "All this will play out mid-decade, late-decade," Teich says.

????But, as Mushell noted, for Intel silicon photonics isn't just about integrating laser-embedded silicon chips into every data center in the business. It's about creating a new paradigm that positions Intel's core business of producing processors and other large-scale computing infrastructure to thrive.

????"Silicon photonics is kind of a trojan horse for building large-scale systems out of X86 [Intel-based] processors," Teich says. "It's non-traditional, and if I'm Intel it's a brilliant play as a way to go up against, say, IBM."

????Mushell agrees.

????"It's not just about bringing revenue from [silicon photonics]," he says. "It's about Intel changing the game."??