Craft a Converged Data Center Network Strategy

UnderstandAssessPlan/Prepare Introduction Why you should you read this solution set: To support consolidation, performance, and reliability objectives, enterprises must plan to evolve from disparate networks for compute and storage traffic to a converged data center network infrastructure. This shift represents a major impact on technology planning and IT staffing and support. Many of the next-generation data center networking solutions proposed by vendors promise convergence but still leverage proprietary elements. Pursuing any value-added protocol scheme not yet standardized introduces the risk of being locked into one specific vendor’s portfolio. 10G Ethernet has been available at premium prices for several years and is widely used in high performance computing environments. Now, with lower prices, data center technical staff is pushing 10G Ethernet for day- to-day infrastructure. As with all new technologies, there is an optimal time for upgrading. Use this solution set to understand what needs to be considered when presented with requests for higher speed infrastructure. This solution set will help you develop and validate a technology roadmap and strategy for data center and storage networking infrastructure. This solution set is designed for: IT leaders that plan, design, and manage data center infrastructure, specifically networking and storage environments, and are evaluating convergence of these traditionally separate areas. IT leaders in smaller organizations looking to expand their data center or potentially invest in virtualized server and storage infrastructure in the near-to-mid term. Organizations that are assessing appropriateness and gauging readiness for building a business plan to help make the case and plan for a converged network infrastructure.

Executive Summary Enterprises should perform an assessment of storage and network baselines to prepare for implementation. Since most enterprises lack resources and expertise in this area, third party assistance is recommended. Given the current state of the market and the prevalence of proprietary elements, enterprises must ensure that they develop a data center convergence roadmap that is independent of specific vendors/products. Prepare for the need to cross-train technical staff (storage, network, server) in order to prepare for the demands of a new converged data center support model. Understand Assess Plan/Prepare With advancing speeds from 10G to 100G and declining costs from $500/port, Ethernet has now emerged as a viable platform for storage networking, allowing all sizes of enterprises to standardize on the technology for the data center environment. Organizations are adopting 10 Gigabit Ethernet to deliver improved performance, availability, and management, as the technology is key to data center consolidation efforts. Priorities such as shared storage and blade server investment, high bandwidth requirements, and virtualization align with storage and TCP/IP network convergence, however, adoption does not come without its challenges. Complexity, planning, and interoperability are all prevalent obstacles to adoption. Enterprises must assess appropriateness and readiness for their environment.

Understand Understand the opportunities associated with data center convergence and a migration to 10 Gigabit Ethernet. This section will help you: Understand enterprise plans for 10 Gigabit Ethernet adoption and implementation progress. Identify the most common business drivers and challenges that companies face with respect to data center convergence. Make the case for standardizing storage and data networks on a common platform. Understand the opportunities associated with data center convergence and a migration to 10 Gigabit Ethernet. This section will help you: Understand enterprise plans for 10 Gigabit Ethernet adoption and implementation progress. Identify the most common business drivers and challenges that companies face with respect to data center convergence. Make the case for standardizing storage and data networks on a common platform. Next Section in Brief 1 Assess Prepare/Plan

Network Convergence: 10 Gigabit Ethernet provides one network infrastructure for TCP/IP network, FC and iSCSI storage traffic While 10G Ethernet boasts bandwidth increases, it also means that a range of network traffic (i.e. storage read/write blocks, files, voice, video) can share a single network technology. This means converging the storage and TCP/IP networks onto a single infrastructure technology, not a single network. Fibre Channel over Ethernet iSCSI over Ethernet

Ethernet has emerged as the most viable long-term technology for data center storage networks Organizations of all sizes are making the upgrade to 10 Gigabit Ethernet All sizes of organizations are looking at 10G Ethernet to converge their TCP/IP network and storage infrastructure. An Info- Tech survey found that while larger organizations were more likely to have already adopted 10G Ethernet, the majority of small and medium organizations have plans to adopt within 24 months. Source: Info-Tech Research Group Size of Organization *Small organizations were defined as organizations with 250 or fewer FTE; Medium organizations were defined as organizations with 251 to 1000 FTE; Large organizations were defined as organizations with greater than 1000 FTE. 10G Ethernet is a logical progression and evolution in the continuing saga of Ethernet in the data center. Just as 10Mb Ethernet was quickly displaced by 100Mb, and 100Mb by 1G Ethernet, eventually 1G will give way to 10G and then 100G as the standard within five years. As data centers grow and bandwidth requirements increase, it is logical to expect higher speed networking technology to become the norm, surpassing Fibre Channel. Organizations that have implemented iSCSI, NFS, and/or FCoE in their current environments will experience a smoother transition to 10G Ethernet. Network equipment and devices Cabling, documentation Vendors and service/maintenance contracts Storage and network personnel 10G Ethernet supports iSCSI, NFS, FCoE 10G Ethernet delivers performance, but also eliminates the need to manage separate: An Info-Tech survey found that size of an organization is not an indicator of success in 10G Ethernet adoption. All sizes of organizations can be successful. An Info-Tech survey found that size of an organization is not an indicator of success in 10G Ethernet adoption. All sizes of organizations can be successful. N = 100 % of Organizations

In the past, the lower price and faster speeds of Fibre Channel provided organizations with an easy decision for their network protocol. However, current 10G Ethernet speeds have already surpassed Fibre Channel and will continue to do so by over 6X in the near future - changing the performance discussion to Ethernet as the next standard. A larger supply of network administrators trained on Ethernet makes it an even more attractive alternative to Fibre Channel as it also presents an opportunity to save on administration costs. 1G 10G 100G 1G 10G 100G Ethernet 4G 8G 16G Past PresentFuture Fibre Channel Ethernet on pace to surpass Fibre Channel speeds within the next three years Technology roadmaps indicate that Ethernet will become the next standard. Exception: 10G Ethernet still doesn’t match InfiniBand speeds for very high performance computing environments, however, Infiniband presents a more costly investment. Info-Tech Insight: Ethernet at these speeds will reduce all the other network fabric usage (i.e. Fibre Channel). Ethernet is easier to manage, and if there's only one fabric to manage and [it] provides the performance there's no point in using other fabrics. - Team Lead, Professional Services “ “ Transitioning to converged TCP/IP networking and storage on 10GB was the most rewarding move we have made in [the] past 2 years. - IT Manager, Business Services “ “

Ethernet performance continues to improve and costs continue to decline against Fibre Channel Although other factors must be considered, 10 Gigabit Ethernet pricing and performance have made the technology a very compelling option for data centers. Consider the cost of cabling when comparing 10 Gigabit Ethernet to Fibre Channel. The use of RJ45 Category 6 or Category 6a copper cabling can represent savings as high as 90% in comparison to optical cabling. Info-Tech Insight: Technology Estimated Price Per Port (2010) 1G Ethernet Approx. $100 10G Ethernet Approx. $500 Fibre Channel, 2 Gbps Approx. $500 Fibre Channel, 4 Gbps Approx. $1500 Fibre Channel, 8 Gbps Approx. $7500

Regardless of what storage technology is operating in the environment, organizations are moving to 10G Ethernet NFS/CIFS Fibre Channel over EthernetFibre Channel over EthernetFibre Channel over EthernetFibre Channel over Ethernet Fibre Channel iSCSI Current Environment 40% 38% 34% 47% 33% 38% 24% 42% 29% 20% 22% Recently Upgraded to Ethernet Planning to Adopt Ethernet No Plans to Upgrade While the majority of organizations operating FCoE and NFS/CIFS storage environments have already adopted or are planning to move to 10G Ethernet within the next 24 months, iSCSI and Fibre Channel environments are also beginning to trend the same way. Explanation The graph above shows the movement from current storage technologies to the new standard of 10G Ethernet. For example, currently 57% of organizations operate with Fibre Channel as the storage technology in their environments. Of the 57%, 38% are planning to adopt Ethernet within the next 24 months, and 33% have already adopted, or are in the process of adopting 10G Ethernet, while 29% have no plans to upgrade in this group. N=121 Percent of organizations that utilize storage technology 10G Ethernet upgrade plans according to current storage technology

Blade server investment also strengthens the need for consolidation and standardization on Ethernet NIC/HBA slots are limited; 10G Ethernet allows scalability. With the very high density of processors available in a blade environment, vendors are offering 10G Ethernet switch modules. By providing multiple 10G outputs from the blade chassis, the bandwidth needs of the processors can be met and the total number of cables between the blade server and the data center switches can be significantly reduced. From a management and maintenance point of view, this cabling reduction can cut down on errors when changes are made to the infrastructure. At 36%, the proportion of blade purchasers has increased significantly since 2006 when Info-Tech found only 9% intended to acquire blades. In the first half of 2010, blades also represented the strongest segment of reviving server sales after the recessionary slowdown. Blades have emerged as a preferred virtual server platform. 300% As organizations continue their consolidation efforts, blade server purchases will continue to grow, thus increasing demand for the standardization on 10G Ethernet.

Adopt 10G Ethernet for improved performance and availability Improved Performance Median Benefit Score = 83% Adopters of 10G Ethernet experienced improved performance of applications. In particular, applications that drive bandwidth, such as multimedia, video, imaging, financial analytics, video conferencing, animation, and virtualization, benefit from 10G Ethernet’s replacement of lower speed links. By aggregating connections between switches and routers, 10G Ethernet provides high throughput for the servers that connect them. Improved High Availability Median Benefit Score = 83% Adopters of 10G Ethernet experienced improved high availability to end users. Organizations that require high speed remote connectivity will find that 10G Ethernet provides both local and long distance links for both LAN and WAN connectivity. Again, high bandwidth applications such as multimedia, imaging, video etc. will benefit from 10G Ethernet and its availability. Improved Network Management Median Benefit Score = 83% Adopters of 10G Ethernet experienced improved network management. By converging onto a single network technology for storage and TCP/IP networks, organizations are able to better manage network traffic. In addition, organizations are able to better manage the physical aspects of the network – top of rack and end of row layouts clean up cabling mess. Improved Capacity Management Median Benefit Score = 67% Adopters of 10G Ethernet experienced improved capacity management. Implementing 10G ports into the environment facilitates growth and enables scalability. By providing 10 times the throughput on a single cable, 10G Ethernet provides high bandwidth with reduced cabling costs and reduced ports required on infrastructure switches.

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