A Brief Analysis of New Thoughts on Data Center Design

A Brief Analysis of New Thoughts on Data Center Design

The number of connected devices is expected to reach 2020 by 50 billion. So many devices are expected to generate up to 2017 ZB Internet Data in 7.7. As the operator abandoned the client-server and LAN architecture and favored the virtualization design in the server, storage and network, such a large amount of data processing needs will pose a huge challenge to the data center ecosystem. To this end, more and more companies have begun to choose more flexible and open platforms based on leading technologies such as mobile computing, cloud services, big data, and social networks.

The use of the open platform means that the data center development project must be viewed as a whole. Although servers are the core technology, you need to consider the overall system, including servers, storage, networks, and software, and better integrate these components in a new way, let the data center realize a real breakthrough change.

Although the open platform not only involves servers, servers play a key role in meeting the transmission capacity, processing speed, and energy-saving and efficient requirements of the next-generation data center. When building a server, you must use one physical server to accommodate multiple virtual servers, so as to improve server utilization when virtualization becomes industry standard. Servers require fast and energy-efficient multi-core processors and must interact seamlessly with increasingly Virtualized Storage and network systems.

Many semiconductor companies and server manufacturers are developing servers that run on ARM processors rather than industry-standard x86 architectures. ARM processors are widely used in smartphones, tablets, and other portable devices, as well as emerging devices, networked appliances, automobiles, and various network sensors that are emerging with Iot trends. ARM helps companies develop innovative multi-core CPU processors to achieve real server-level performance, and provides the best virtualization accelerator for networks, communications, big data, storage and security applications.

Modern data centers also require faster network connectivity. Gigabit Ethernet will be replaced by 10GbE, 40GbE, and 100GbE network connections. A 10GbE structured network (where traffic can flow in all directions) will facilitate energy conservation, manageability, and flexible use of computing resources through network virtualization.

At the same time, in order to improve the speed between the top switch and the server Nic in the data center and reduce the cost of Ethernet connectivity between the two, the 25 GB Ethernet alliance, a recently established industry organization, has developed a new Ethernet specification, to allow a data center network to apply 25 Gbps or 50 Gbps Ethernet link protocol.

Compliant with industry-standard and interoperable 25 Gb Ethernet specifications, the aim is to improve performance and significantly reduce the interconnection cost per Gbps between the rack-mounted switch and the server Nic. Compared with the current 10 Gbps and 40 Gbps Ethernet links, this specification specifies the single-channel 25 Gbps Ethernet and dual-channel 50 Gbps Ethernet link protocol, it can improve the performance of each physical channel between the rack endpoint and the switch or shield the dual-axis copper cable by up to 2.5 times. As a management organization for Ethernet standards, the American Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is also considering applying this technology to future IEEE standards.

The new interconnection technology can increase the data transmission speed to 40 Gbps and will soon reach 100 Gbps, almost overnight. Storage disaggregation allows data center operators to upgrade or replace individual components more flexibly, rather than replacing the entire system. SSD storage can also be used for data that needs to be quickly searched, while low-price SAS and SATA drives are used for less urgent data.

When designing an open platform data center, you must also consider security technologies to avoid future compensation. The network requires in-depth packet detection technology and can detect exceptions at a speed of Gb. Other network components that require security capabilities include edge routers, firewalls, home gateways, and virtual private network (VPN) devices. In the entire network, providing security does not affect the network speed and performance.

Although the above technical changes may bring challenges to data center administrators who are more familiar with the client-server physical hardware operation, however, there are also a large number of potential opportunities to develop a more efficient and open platform for ultra-large-scale data centers. This type of data center can meet the growing demand for faster and higher-capacity computing on rapidly growing devices.