Cloud-driven change: core switches over the years

Cloud computing is actually a realization of the idea that "network is the computer": there is no local computing terminal anywhere in the world, computer or mobile, all computing resources are concentrated in several large data centers around the world, all terminals are connected to these data centers, The core switch is the most critical node in the network. With the popularity of cloud computing, large data and other technologies, these nodes face great data exchange pressure, which drives the development of core switch technology.

What does cloud computing bring to us? This topic seems a cliché to many people, because the answer is nothing more than a simpler service model, a more flexible and pay-as-you-go approach, or lower costs. However, if we do not consider this issue from the application side, but instead look at it from the point of view of the device provider, we will find that the answer is very different.

For device providers, the biggest benefit of cloud computing is providing users with a reason to upgrade their equipment. The total amount of global IT spending will grow by 3% this year to $3.6 trillion trillion, according to new data released by Gartner, a market research agency, in July 2012. This growth has largely benefited from the concept of cloud computing. According to another set of forecasts published by Gartner, the total amount of IT spending on cloud computing in the 2016 will be one-and-207 billion trillion in 2012.

So why does cloud computing give users the willingness to dig money out of their pockets?

For cloud computing, most people acknowledge that it has changed the traditional it delivery model. Today, more and more data and traffic are concentrated within the datacenter, and computing resources and storage resources are tilting from the client to the server side. For this phenomenon, there is a very image of the argument: large data concentration. The term first appeared in the business process of the financial industry, and now the trend of data centralization or data integration has begun to expand to many industries. The application of virtual Desktop is undoubtedly one of the best proofs.

The centralized processing of data is to give most of the data processing work to the data center. There is no doubt that both the range of cost savings and manageability are much higher than the practice of leaving business data on the local client side. However, this brings new requirements to the performance of the data center. One of the most effective ways to improve performance for users is to update IT equipment. This is certainly the very center of the device provider.

Different Data center networks

The more the data flows to the data center, the greater the pressure on the data center. As a result, the data center has become a whole that is tightly interconnected between different infrastructures and can concurrently perform data operations. The global traffic model is evolving from client-server Exchange to service-side exchange.

The change of traffic model makes the network environment of data center changed. Among them, the network data traffic growth is the most obvious, this also makes the user to the network equipment performance put forward the higher demand. In addition, in terms of port density, network architecture and so on, the data center network is also proposing some new requirements. The "Computer World" (April 25, 2011, "switch Freshmen") lists seven trends in the data center network, which are virtualization, network traffic pattern changes, network flattening, Multilink semi-transparent interconnect protocol, virtual physical switch management, virtual machine migration, and network aggregation. The requirements and trends listed above are more diverse and complex than the characteristics of traditional campus networks.

CCW information published in 2012 in the "2011-2012 China network Equipment Market Development Trend Study Report" that, the driving force of network equipment Market development includes four aspects, namely higher network security performance requirement, higher stability performance, more data center service demand and more convenient network management. At the same time, the report also mentions that the trend of the development of network products and technologies is that the interface tends to be high speed, more business trend and the exchange ability tends to the sea quantification and clustering.

According to the survey data from the world of Information, 2009, the domestic enterprise network equipment Market size of 23.47 billion yuan, growth rate of 0.3%, and to 2010 the two data growth to 25.63 billion yuan and 9.2% respectively. 2011, the domestic enterprise network equipment market size reached 26.68 billion yuan, growth rate of 4.1%.

"To support the architecture of cloud computing, we will also meet in the future to exchange larger data center switch products." The competition in this market will also become fiercer. Dingshen, senior analyst at the World Information Centre, said.

Where has the core switch changed?

On the one hand, cloud computing is driving the change of the data center network, on the other hand, the data center network has its own unique characteristics, unlike the campus network and the metropolitan area network. These two factors make the user need to redesign the purchase plan and pay for it. For users, cloud computing has indeed emerged as a marketing concept and gimmick. Today, the veil of secrecy has been lifted, and many users are already aware of its great charm and the market value it brings. This is why the device provider "likes" the concept of cloud computing.

Cloud computing is at the core of the datacenter switch, and it's like a stir in a kettle of warm water.

(Responsible editor: The good of the Legacy)