January 27, 2026
Article
Modern infrastructure is moving beyond isolated server-centric designs where compute, storage, and networking are locked within fixed units and evolving toward architectures where resources are disaggregated and dynamically connected over high-speed, Ethernet-based fabrics.
In this fabric-native model:
This evolution sets the stage for next-generation storage platforms to shed unnecessary complexity and embrace composability at the hardware level.
That’s exactly where iWave is headed in partnership with Altera by engineering an 800G JBoF platform that reimagines how flash storage fits into modern Ethernet-based data centers.
Just-a-Bunch-of-Flash (JBoF) systems are dense, high-capacity enclosures filled with arrays of high-performance NVMe SSDs, designed specifically for environments requiring ultra-low latency and massive throughput. Unlike traditional storage arrays that include embedded CPUs and RAID controllers, JBoFs are just storage shelves, they provide no onboard compute or data processing. Instead, they expose raw NVMe drives directly to external compute nodes using high-speed interfaces such as NVMe-over-Fabrics (NVMe-oF) using Ethernet, InfiniBand, or Fibre Channel.
JBoFs are foundational to disaggregated architectures, where compute, storage, and network resources are scaled and managed independently. This separation is critical for allowing data centres to pool flash storage centrally and dynamically allocate it to applications as needed, improving both utilization efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
For years, JBoF systems have relied on embedded CPUs within the chassis to handle tasks like NVMe-over-Fabrics translation, SSD enumeration, telemetry (via NVMe-MI), and out-of-band management interfaces. While this architecture worked in traditional setups, it introduces several inefficiencies that become apparent in modern, disaggregated infrastructure.
Having a CPU in the control path brings with it:
This model, while serviceable, starts to collapse under the scaling demands of AI clusters, multi-tenant cloud environments, and edge deployments where every watt, every microsecond, and every RU of space counts.
In collaboration with Altera, iWave is building a next-generation 800G JBoF platform that completely removes the need for a CPU inside the storage shelf.
By removing the CPU from the JBoF and moving the control and data plane logic to the SmartNIC, iWave simplifies the hardware, reduces latency, power and thermal footprint, and eliminates the need for OS patches, software agents, or runtime dependencies. The iWave SmartNIC, becomes the central control engine and is responsible for the movement of data between the Remote Host and the Local SSDs. The system relies on iWave’s SmartNIC, powered by an OFED RDMA Core along with an NVMe-oF Controller to offload the full data and control plane stack.
It handles the following:
The illustrations below showcase the key difference between traditional CPU-based JBoFs and iWave’s SmartNIC-offloaded design.
The figure 1 shows the traditional JBoF where on the server side, an NVMe-oF Initiator enables direct NVMe command offload onto the network, bypassing traditional TCP/IP stacks and reducing CPU overhead.
However, inside the JBoF, the NIC still relies on an embedded CPU to process NVMe-oF Target requests, manage PCIe switch routing, and forward I/Os to SSDs. This extra CPU layer adds latency and becomes a bottleneck as SSD parallelism increases.
Figure 1: Typical JBoF Implementation
Figure 2 shows the NVMe-oF Initiator over RoCEv2 on the server side offloads NVMe commands onto the network, as before. But now, the JBoF uses an iWave NVMe-oF Target Offload SmartNIC that directly connects to the PCIe switch and SSDs, handling NVMe-oF Target and NVMe-MI operations entirely in hardware.
This removes the embedded CPU from the data path, reducing latency and scaling SSD performance to line-rate speeds without CPU bottlenecks.
Figure 2: iWave SmartNIC Enabled JBoF
iWave’s 800G JBoF platform is being built with a focus on line-rate performance, deterministic behavior, and rack-level composability.
Platform Highlights:
Thanks to RoCEv2, this system plugs directly into existing Ethernet Layer 3 networks. Operators can deploy disaggregated NVMe flash without needing new switch hardware or protocol stacks.
This architecture is designed for advanced workloads and next-generation infrastructure. Key target environments include:
With a CPU-free, SmartNIC-driven design, iWave is redefining how high-performance flash storage integrates into the future of composable data center infrastructure.
For more information, please visit www.iwave-global.com or reach out to us at mktg@iwave-global.com
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