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Extreme unveils switching blueprint for virtual datacenters
By siliconindia
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Friday, 04 December 2009, 18:15 IST |
1 Comments
Bangalore: Extreme Networks this week unveiled a blueprint for migrating datacenters from the physical world to virtualization, and then ultimately to cloud computing.
At the Gartner Datacenter Conference in Las Vegas, Extreme disclosed its datacenter evolution strategy, which is in sharp contrast to that endorsed by Cisco. Extreme's approach seeks to eliminate virtual switching at the server level while Cisco proposes adding that element to datacenter servers, specifically the blade servers within its new Unified Computing System platform, reports InfoWorld.
Extreme's blueprint is expected to collide with Cisco's Datacenter 3.0 strategy, Force10 Networks' Virtualization Framework, elements of Juniper's Stratus project, and architectures pitched by Brocade, HP, and other datacenter switching competitors.
"It's intended to assist in evolving datacenters to wide-scale virtualization and cloud computing without forcing certain technologies or operating methodologies on users," says Gordon Stitt, Extreme Chairman and Co-founder.
Extreme's plan is built on the four 'pillars' of datacenter infrastructure and operations: physical, efficiency, scalability, and automation/customization. Physical deals with network topology, switching tiers, bandwidth, and performance; efficiency involves integration, support, and management of virtual machines and hypervisors; scalability revolves around switching capacity to support thousands of VMs and applications; and automation/customization supports configuration and extensibility through XML and APIs.
Extreme is addressing the first pillar through its existing stackable and modular switching lines - the Summit x450 and x650 switches for top-of-rack server access applications and the modular BlackDiamond 8800 series for the core. Stacking allows switch capacity and density to increase while also enabling the stacked configuration to be managed as a single switch, with aggregated links providing increased bandwidth and redundancy.
Extreme switches are also 40/100G Ethernet 'ready' through the inclusion of an expansion slot for uplinks, Stitt says. He expects Extreme to have 40/100G modules for the switches around mid-2010.
