Caltech HEP team started testing the 40GE NICs from Mellanox before SC10, a detailed presentation on the 40GE network testing with results is available for download.

Force10 Networks released their first 40GE 1U top of the rack switch just before SC2010, Caltech received the pre-alpha switch which had few bugs but most of the time switch worked.

As shown in the network diagram below, 4 10GE links were placed over the Internet2 100GE link that spanned from show floor to StarLight and looped back to the showfloor.

Results are shown below, which shows four IPERF UDP flows across the 4 links fully utilizing the 40GE uplinks to the 100GE backbone. 

Equipment used in 40GE Network demonstration in Caltech Booth.