LATEST INTELLIGENCE
DATA CENTER HIGH SPEED
MIGRATION: INFRASTRUCTURE
ISSUES, TRENDS, DRIVERS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
R
ecent data-center trends predict
bandwidth requirements will continue
growing 25 percent to 35 percent per
year. A key impact of this sustained growth
is the shift to higher switching speeds.
According to a recent study by Dell’Oro,
Ethernet switch revenue will continue to
grow through the end of the decade, with
the biggest sales forecasted for 25G and
100G ports.1 40G port revenue has likely
peaked and will now decline in favor of
25G and 50G ports. 40G ports are used
extensively for server connectivity today,
with each QSFP 40G port supporting four
10G server connections. Servers are quickly
evolving, however, and new designs will
easily consume much more than a 10G
uplink can supply. The shift to 25G lanes
is well underway as switches deploying
25G lanes become more commonplace.
Lane capacities are expected to continue
doubling, reaching 100G by 2020 and
enabling the next generation of high
speed links for fabric switches. A number of
factors are driving the surge in data center
throughput speeds.
• Server densities are increasing by
approximately 20 percent a year.
• Processor capabilities are growing,
with Intel recently announcing a 22-
core processor.
• Virtualization density is increasing by 30
percent, which is driving the uplink speeds
to switches.
• East-west traffic in the data center has far
surpassed the volume of north-south traffic.
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