Data centre switch technology to turn on in 2014
Fri 11 Apr 2014
27/2/14 – The coming year will be one of major transition for three key data centre switch technologies, according to new research.
Research firm Crehan, makes three projections. It says, that on an annual basis:
• In Infiniband, a computer network communications link used in high-performance computing and large data centres, 56Gbps FDR (fourteen data rate) will overtake 40Gbps QDR (quad data rate) to comprise more than 50% of shipments.
• In Fibre Channel, the data storage communications link, 16Gbps will exceed 8Gbps to comprise more than 50% of shipments.
• In Ethernet, the local area network technology, 10 Gigabit will outstrip 1 Gigabit to comprise more than 50% of shipments.
“10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) is finally on the verge of becoming the most popular data centre switch port connection, after a long and sometimes rocky adoption curve,” said Seamus Crehan, president of Crehan Research. “And as 40GbE starts to ramp, we are still forecasting its adoption curve to look much better than that of 10GbE. This is already evidenced by the fact that recent data centre switch introductions are really pushing the envelope on 40GbE port densities and economics,” he added.
In Fibre Channel, the report further shows that despite a more gradual ramp than that seen for 8Gbps, 16Gbps Fibre Channel adoption is picking up steam. Crehan predicts that it will become the majority Fibre Channel switch technology by 2014.
“In the Infiniband switch market, 56Gbps FDR is well on its way to becoming the next de facto high-speed interconnect, setting the foundation for upgrades to the forthcoming 100Gbps EDR products,” Crehan said.
* Crehan Research’s Data Center Switch Long-Range Forecast Report
