Switches & Bridges

In today's data centers, virtualization deployments have become commonplace, and this trend is increasing rapidly with the availability of 10 Gigabit Ethernet servers at attractive prices. The combination of increased adoption of these servers and applications with higher bandwidth requirements is increasing the need for dense 10 and 40 Gigabit Ethernet switching. Moreover, data center architecture is changing as application environments create new demands for IT infrastructure. Application workloads are deployed across a mix of virtualized and nonvirtualized server and storage infrastructure, requiring a network infrastructure that provides consistent connectivity, security, and visibility across a range of bare-metal, virtualized, and cloud computing environments.

The increasing number of applications requiring higher bandwidths and the availability of less expensive 10-Gbps servers are combining to drive a growing demand for dense 10 and 40 Gigabit Ethernet switches. At the same time, data center architecture is evolving in response to new demands on the IT infrastructure. Application workloads are being deployed across a mix of virtualized and nonvirtualized server and storage infrastructure, requiring a network infrastructure that provides consistent connectivity, security, and visibility across a range of bare-metal, virtualized, and cloud computing environments.

In today's data centers, virtualization deployments have become commonplace, and this trend is growing rapidly with the availability of 10 Gigabit Ethernet servers at attractive prices. Increased adoption of 10 Gigabit Ethernet servers coupled with applications using higher bandwidth is accelerating the need for dense 10 and 40 Gigabit Ethernet switching. Moreover, data center architectures are evolving to accommodate customers seeking to build large-scale nonblocking fabrics to support different applications, creating heavy east-west or north-south traffic. Leaf-and-spine layer designs using high-density and low-latency switches lead to flatter network architectures, allowing connections that scale from hundreds to more than 10,000 servers with large bisectional bandwidth and helping ensure low-latency fabric with a low hop count.

In today's data centers, virtualization deployments have become common place, and this trend is increasing rapidly with the availability of 10 Gigabit Ethernet servers at attractive prices. The combination of increased adoption of 10 Gigabit Ethernet servers and applications with higher bandwidth requirements is increasing the need for dense 10 and 40 Gigabit Ethernet switching. Moreover, data center architecture is evolving as customers seek to build large-scale nonblocking fabrics to accommodate different applications, creating patterns of heavy east-west and north-south traffic. Leaf and spine layer designs using high-density and low-latency switches lead to a flatter network architecture, allowing connections scaling from hundreds to 10,000 or more servers with high bidirectional bandwidth, and helping ensure a low-latency fabric with a low hop count.

In today's data centers, virtualization deployments have become common place, and this trend is increasing rapidly with the availability of 10 Gigabit Ethernet servers at attractive prices. The combination of increased adoption of 10 Gigabit Ethernet servers and applications with higher bandwidth requirements is increasing the need for dense 10 and 40 Gigabit Ethernet switching. Moreover, data center architecture is evolving as customers seek to build large-scale nonblocking fabrics to accommodate different applications, creating patterns of heavy east-west and north-south traffic. Leaf and spine layer designs using high-density and low-latency switches lead to a flatter network architecture, allowing connections scaling from hundreds to 10,000 or more servers with high bidirectional bandwidth, and helping ensure a low-latency fabric with a low hop count.