Migrating the Data Center to 100Gb and Beyond

Migrating the Data Center to 100Gb and Beyond

Introduction

As organizations attempt to meet the growing demands for data throughput, Information Technology (IT) resources are continually stretched beyond their current capabilities. This ever-increasing demand for computing power and connectivity impacts how organizations plan, build, and manage their existing IT infrastructure. Manufacturers have already responded to the increased demand for Ethernet hardware, including cabling, fiber-optic transceivers, and networking appliances. Enterprise and data center managers are now challenged with the difficult task of where and how to allocate resources.

The recent emergence of 100Gb along with the rapidly adopted 40Gb Ethernet requires IT managers to rethink and retool their infrastructure at an unforeseen pace. While 1Gb and 10Gb were standard in the recent past, aggregated throughput and continuous data growth place real-world demand beyond the capabilities of many existing computing environments. The challenge for the networked organization is to meet this data growth requirement while maintaining budgetary control and preserving current IT investments. This paper discusses the drivers behind increased data demand, the challenges this data growth presents for enterprise and data center environments and the solutions offered by Axiom fiber-optic transceiver options.

Key Drivers of Digital Data and Increased Data Center Demand

Internet of Things (IoT) – There’s no questioning the fact that both our daily personal lives and the business world revolve around the use of digital data. As such, today’s data centers and their IT managers face a proliferation of new devices. Whether a connected server or smart device, this exponential growth from the Internet of Things (IoT) generates an urgent demand for capacity.

Distributed computing and applications – It is now recognized that 80% of all enterprise workloads are delivered as a service over the internet. According to Cisco Global Cloud Index, by 2109, 86% of all enterprise workloads will be processed by cloud data centers. Quite simply, all applications accessed via the internet or “The Cloud” – whether wired broadband, wireless, or heaven forbid dial-up – all are based on some hardware application processing that digital data. This equates to every search, post, like, or swipe being processed in a data center.

Virtualization –Virtualization provides adaptive management and flexible resource balancing that scales computing to server and desktop needs. The hallmark of virtualization is reduced server sprawl and improved desktop management. Both require uninterrupted connectivity and zero downtime, along with greater consolidated CPU processing, memory capacity and larger and lower latency storage.

Challenges to Keeping Pace with Data Demands

It is imperative for the IT infrastructure to keep up with the explosive demand for current and future data needs. IT is the engine of business, and the IT infrastructure is the balance between demand and needs, divided by resources. Adding to the challenge, those IT demands generally appear never-ending and resources are typically under tight allocation.

One major source of increased capacity demand is mobility and corresponding workgroup collaboration using mobile devices and shared resources via the internet. Data traffic from these activities is expected to grow 24.3 Exabytes per month by 2019, which represents a substantial compound annual growth rate of 57%.

The Budget Challenge

The leading IT cost beyond operating expense management is the capital expense of IT equipment. The challenge to optimize IT spends without limiting capacity is a common issue, from the large data center down to an individual enclosure. A major component that contributes to equipment upgrade costs is the fiber-optic transceiver.

Optical transceivers are by definition co-packaged transmitters and receivers that convert electrical signals into light waveforms. The method of information transmission is performed by the transceiver converting electrical signals into a light pulse or waveform, then launching this waveform into a fiber-optic cable. In reverse the interconnected transceiver also receives light signals from another transceiver then converts them back into an electrical signal.

There are a variety of transceiver types that differ in form-factor, data rate, and supported cable link distances. Transceiver costs can vary tremendously based on data rate (capacity), and cable distance attributes. Simply stated, transceivers with more powerful lasers and receivers have higher costs.

Beyond the cost to power, cool, and manage IT equipment, the greatest IT capital spend is with fiber-optic components.

X2 XFP SFP XENPAK SFP+ Bi-Directional SFP

Fiber-optic transceivers and the networking hardware applications that use them deliver the high performance enhancements necessary to meet growing computing requirements. Most organizations start small to keep upfront costs as low as possible. As demand grows, the infrastructure can be easily expanded by adding additional transceivers, whether attached to a server, switch, or storage appliance. Intrinsic to the transceivers design, each provides flexibility to interconnect different branded OEM products on either endpoint.

Transceivers provide flexible endpoint customization and scale capacity with an upgrade as-you-grow model

Barrier to Data Capacity Upgrades

With all their positive attributes, fiber-optics transceivers and the hardware applications that support them carry a cost premium.

Transceivers can represent a huge percentage of IT hardware costs. As organizations strive to optimize their IT infrastructure, they often encounter sticker shock when initiating a build out or upgrade. In addition to the already high cost of fiber-optic components, many OEMs hike transceivers prices to achieve even higher margins. The basis for these price premiums is primarily branded logo status along with the occasional inclusion of customized codes or encoding programmed within the transceiver. While this encoding on transceivers does serve a useful function, providing part number, serial number, and product descriptions, a growing number of OEM brands are using it to discourage competition and lock users into their higher cost transceivers. It should be noted that all transceivers are designed under an industry Multiple Source Agreement (MSA), which allows for open programming.

The high cost of fiber-optic transceivers can be a major deterrent to their deployment and integration within data center and enterprise IT environments.

The Axiom Advantage

The use of Axiom transceivers can remove or substantially shrink the data capacity upgrade cost barrier. Beyond significant cost savings (see chart below) Axiom transceivers provide guaranteed compatibility that will not void any warranty or interfere with any service agreement. Axiom transceivers are system-specific solutions stringently tested to deliver uncompromising reliability while backed by a lifetime replacement warranty. Multiply the savings represented by one transceiver by the scope of any upgrade and Axiom products present an outstanding means of balancing budget imperatives with current and future data throughput demands.

*Pricing based on MSRP (December 2015)