The Challenge
Today’s data center networks are under tremendous pressure. Not only are they growing geometrically to keep pace with rapidly escalating network demands, they are supporting new application architectures and virtualized environments. Moreover, they are expected to operate more efficiently and more cost-effectively than ever before.
The problem lies in the fact that, while everything else in the data center (applications, storage, servers) has evolved over time, the network architecture itself has not. Rather than evolve, the data center network has instead become extremely complex. This complexity prevents the network from scaling properly, restricting available resources and limiting the ability to virtualize the data center.
The video cannot be shown at the moment. Please try again later.
Complexity Inhibits Growth
This complexity is due, in large part, to the way data centers have evolved over time. Although they started out simple enough, the growing number of servers and storage devices, combined with the sheer volume of data and information transfer, have led to the creation of multi-tiered tree structures composed of access, aggregation, and core layers required to interconnect the resources. The result is a highly inefficient infrastructure that is not only expensive to manage and maintain, but also results in slow, highly unpredictable application performance.
Up to 50 percent of all ports in today’s data center—typically the most expensive ports—are used to connect switches to other switches, not servers or storage or users. More switch layers means more devices to manage, with a corresponding geometric increase in the number of device interactions. That’s because, while the majority of traffic in today’s data center is between servers—in other words, “east-to-west”—it must first move up and down the tree structure— “north-to-south”—to reach its destination. These extra hops introduce complexity and add latency that severely impacts application performance, degrading the user experience. Businesses can’t afford to continue operating in this way. Until the data center network undergoes a fundamental change and transforms the way information is shared, realizing the full potential of a virtualized data center will be nearly impossible.
Start with Simplification
Proficio recommends simplifying the data center network by eliminating layers of switching to flatten and collapse the network from today’s three-tier tree structure to two layers to, ultimately, just one. This simplification is achieved by interconnecting multiple physical switches, creating a single, logical device that combines the performance and simplicity of a switch with the connectivity and resiliency of a network.
Solutions
Proficio recommends Juniper Networks' 3-2-1 Data Center Network Architecture which delivers a strategy for simplifying the data center by flattening the existing multilayer tree structure to improve overall performance as well as the user experience.
Benefits
- Reduces latency by eliminating switch layers in the data center and Improves application performance by reducing the number of interactions required to complete a transaction
- Reduces capital and operational expenses by eliminating equipment in the data center, saving power, cooling and space costs
- Simplifies overall management and maintenance, enabling easy transition to cloud-like efficiencies Allows easy integration of new services such as security throughout the data center
The 3-2-1 Data Center Network Architecture reduces complexity and accelerates performance by creating a single, data center-wide fabric that provides any-to-any connectivity between resources. For more on this technology and a proposal on how it would benefit your organization, please contact us.
