This massive tech alliance is taking on InfiniBand with an open Ethernet dream for next-generation AI superclusters
- InfiniBand’s long dominance faces real pressure from the movement toward open Ethernet standards
- Meta and Nvidia bet on opening up to large-scale AI networks
- ESUN Project Connects Industry Competitors Through Shared Networking Ambitions
The Open Compute Project (OCP) announced a new initiative known as Ethernet for Scale-Up Networking (ESUN), aimed at developing open standards for high-performance connections within artificial intelligence clusters.
This collaboration brings together companies such as Meta, Nvidia, AMD, Cisco and OpenAI to explore how Ethernet can compete with existing interconnects like InfiniBand in large-scale data centers.
Other companies joining the collaboration include Arista, ARM, Broadcom, HPE Networking, Marvell, Microsoft and Oracle.
Open network for AI clusters
InfiniBand has long dominated the high-throughput AI networking market, accounting for approximately 80% of the infrastructure connecting GPUs and accelerators.
However, ESUN Group believes that Ethernet’s maturity, cost-effectiveness and interoperability make it a strong candidate for scaling AI clusters.
Unlike proprietary systems, Ethernet’s high familiarity among engineers could help reduce the complexity of managing massive AI workloads.
Proponents argue that using Ethernet as an open standard will allow operators to scale infrastructure while reducing costs.
OCP’s new AI tools initiative builds on previous work conducted through its SUE-Transport (SUE-T) program, which explored Ethernet transport for multiprocessor systems.
ESUN participants will meet regularly to define standards for switch behavior, including protocol headers, error handling, and lossless data transfer.
The group will also study how network design affects load balancing and memory ordering within GPU-based systems.
It plans to coordinate with the Ultra Ethernet Consortium and the IEEE 802.3 standards body to ensure alignment across the Ethernet ecosystem.
Several companies have already developed Ethernet-based products targeting the AI evolution: Broadcom’s Tomahawk Ultra switch, for example, supports up to 77 billion packets per second, and Nvidia’s Spectrum-X platform also combines Ethernet with acceleration hardware for AI clusters.
However, Meta, who co-founded OCP in 2011, sees ESUN as a natural extension of his drive to open up hardware within data centers.
Still, observers note that replacing established InfiniBand networks would require Ethernet to prove itself under the most demanding AI workloads, where latency and reliability are essential.
ESUN’s success will depend on the balance between openness and performance. Proponents see a future in which AI systems run on interoperable hardware using standardized Ethernet technologies.
Yet given the scale and sensitivity of AI infrastructure, it remains uncertain whether industry dynamics will shift decisively away from proprietary interconnections.
For now, ESUN represents an ambitious effort, and it remains to be seen whether it can match InfiniBand’s performance.
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