The Data Center as we know it is changing and the network is at the heart
We live in exciting times, especially when one considers the ever-evolving data center. Consolidation and virtualization are changing the rules of how data centers are designed, built and operated across the world. The concept of scale as we knew it is being turned on its head and growth projections for compute, storage and network resources are going through the roof. At the heart of this change is the glue that connects all of the key components of the data center together, the network.
First, let me introduce myself. I am Ron Fuller, a Technical Solutions Architect for Cisco focused on Data Center Architectures. I work with Enterprise customers across Ohio and Michigan helping them to address these changes in data center technology and working with them to develop an architecture for the future helping them and their business to be successful. Over the next few weeks I’ll be blogging my perspective on these data center networking technologies and sharing some of the emerging trends I see on a daily basis. Additionally, I’ll be sharing some tips and tricks I’ve picked up along the way for getting the most out of your Cisco Nexus products.
As I mentioned, the network is the only component of the data center, outside of the physical facility itself that touches all of the key components of the environment. As virtualization on the platform side increases, the network needs to change to accommodate the increased throughput requirements. With the increased adoption of stateless computing and workload mobility, storage utilization increases and the number of devices connected increases. The network must scale in bandwidth, latency, quality of service and resiliency to provide the appropriate levels of service to the changing demands. If we layer in the ability to distribute the workload not only intra data center but inter data center, or extend into a cloud additional requirements come to light. The network is the critical foundation to the success of any and all of these.
None of this is a trivial undertaking using tried and true methods and with emerging technologies it becomes more critical than ever to understand why, when and how to implement them to meet your needs. Being a network guy at my core (pun intended!), I’ll do my best to explain some of the key technologies as I see them and look forward to your comments and feedback. An acronym soup of DBC, FCoE, FabricPath, vPC, VN-Link, OTV and more awaits. I am excited for this opportunity and can’t wait to get rolling!
