Next-generation Data Center Core Switches

　　Introduction

　　Since the introduction of cloud computing technology in 2006, it has developed so rapidly that almost all enterprise IT services have migrated, or are in the process of migrating, to cloud-computing platforms.

　　Data centers are seeing an annual growth rate of over 40% in network devices. Among all network devices in a data center, core switches are the key nodes in the architecture of the entire cloud-computing network.

　　The reasons behind the development of Data Center Core Switches

　　The development of data center core switches can be attributed to many factors. The primary driving force is the revolutionary transition from the client/server traffic model to the server/server traffic model. During this transition, Incast and multicast traffic models are more widely used on networks than previous unicast traffic models. As more and more core enterprise services migrate to IT platforms, enterprises are increasing their spend on IT system construction. Development of data center technologies, such as large-scale server clusters, virtualization, and big data, also bring higher requirements for data center networks.

　　The preceding table shows that the key to the success of data center switches is to combine service requirements with mature technologies. Huawei follows this principle when developing next-generation data center core switches.

　　Characteristics of Current Data Center Core Switches

　　Currently, the data center core switches of mainstream vendors have the following characteristics:

　　1. High scalability

　　2. Virtualization capabilities

　　3. Support for multi-service integration and network convergence

　　Deficiencies of Current Data Center Core Switches

　　Although data center core switches have made many breakthroughs in services and technologies, they still have the following deficiencies:

　　1. Insufficient network scalability

　　· At present, very few data center core switches can provide scalability that supports network expansion for the next five to 10 years. This is because the device architecture cannot keep pace with the rapid network expansion.

　　· Server virtualization also brings great demand in L2 data switching. However, L2 networks and nodes are not very scalable due to defects of the L2 networks.

　　· Traditional L2 protocols, such as STP, only solve the problem of L2 loops and do not determine how to establish a large L2 network. There are still no mature solutions for L2 VM migration between data centers.

　　2. Separate network virtualization and service virtualization

　　· Services and applications become more flexible and dynamic after service virtualization.

　　· It is a big challenge for virtual networks to dynamically change configurations and deployment to adapt to changes in services and applications.

　　3. Insufficient openness to network behavior

　　· As network application environments become more complex, many customers want to customize their own network behaviors. However, customer networks have their own characteristics and requirements, and standard devices cannot meet the special requirements of all customers. To address this problem, some vendors have introduced the idea of using open standard interfaces to control network behavior.

　　· Openflow, OpenStack, and SDN technologies were developed following this idea. They share network control details with external applications to support the customization of network behavior. Although these technologies still need improvement and have not been widely used on network devices, these technologies may be the way of the future.

　　· Other than technologies that separate service control from forwarding, customization of network behavior can also be implemented through APIs provided by network devices or through middleware provided by an open platform. The need for network behavior customization cannot be ignored regardless of the technology used.

　　4. Duplicate investment on core switches of data centers and campus networks

　　· Separate core switches for data centers and campus networks ensure network security. However, deploying two groups of core switches increases investment on physical devices and raises costs of device management and maintenance.

　　· For customers, using the same hardware platform for data center and campus network services allows the implementation of uniform service management and the facilitation of network deployment, operation, and maintenance. The core of the data center and campus network are physically coupled through virtual switch technology.

　　· Technically, it is an inevitable trend for a data center and campus network to share the same group of core switches.

　　5. High electricity costs

　　· New core switches use more power than old core switches. Traditional power supply systems in data center equipment rooms cannot meet the requirements of these new switches. High power consumption results in high temperatures, which may degrade the reliability of the device.

　　· New switches use more power because they use complex, high-frequency chips to provide complex services.

　　· Therefore, it is important to reduce the power consumption of data center core switches. Energy-saving core switches improve device reliability, save energy, and have lower requirements for data center equipment rooms.

　　Huawei’s Next-generation Data Center Core Switches

　　Huawei is dedicated to offering competitive data center core switches and data center network solutions for customers around the world. Huawei has developed the CloudEngine 12800 series, its next-generation data center core switches, which provide the following features to meet service requirements of customers in the cloud-computing era:

　　1. Scalable network: higher scalability

　　· By 2012, the largest switching capacity of a data center core switch will be 480 Gbps per slot because the maximum capacity of a switch panel is 48 x 10GE. If the expected service life of a core switch is five years, the switch must support a bandwidth upgrade to at least eight times the current bandwidth. That is, the switching capacity must increase to about 4 Tbps per slot in five years.

　　· Huawei saw that the products on the market were not ideal, as some require expensive upgrades due to complicated architecture, or their [f1] initial architecture design does not support the necessary high level of network throughput. As a result, Huawei developed the CE12800 with 4 Tbit/s per slot bandwidth scalability, which will provide protection for customer investment.

　　· Huawei CE12800 supports standard Layer 2 protocols, such as TRILL, used to build large Layer 2 networks. In addition, the Layer 2 TRILL network can seamlessly connect to standard IP networks, allowing customers to flexibly deploy services on a large network.

　　2. Virtual network: close coupling of application and network

　　· In-band protocols between server network adapters and network devices can quickly detect the migration of a large number of VMs, and network devices can also respond to VM migration. However, this is not enough for cloud-computing applications.

　　· To respond to changes in virtualized services, many devices, including load balancing devices and WAN routers, need to adjust their configurations. The configuration adjustment may even involve multiple data centers.

　　· Therefore, network virtualization needs to be closely coupled with service changes using out-of-band network management interfaces. Inbound protocols can combine with out-of-band network management interfaces to implement end-to-end virtualization.

　　3. Open network: comprehensive customization capabilities

　　· Huawei supports Openflow, OpenStack, and SDN technologies[f2] .

　　· Huawei also provides open service platforms with standard APIs or middleware to overcome defects in standard protocols. An open service platform allows customers to quickly deploy their own network services.

　　4. Resource-sharing: one group of core switches for data centers and campus networks

　　· Huawei’s CE12800 supports virtual switch technology, which can virtualize a single switch into a maximum of eight local switches (the number will increase to 16 in the future). The excellent forwarding performance of the CE12800 will provide an integrated service platform supporting both data center services and campus network services.

　　· Physical coupling of core nodes helps customers realize uniform management and deployment of services and a simplified operations and maintenance, which reduces a customer’s capital and operating expenditures.

　　5. Environmentally-friendly design: build a green data center

　　· Huawei's next-generation data center switches are installed with energy-saving ASIC chips and transceivers and offer the industry's most efficient digital power modules. Power consumption of key components can be adjusted based on traffic volume, which reduces power consumption per unit of transmission speed.

　　· Expanding the service life of network devices is an effective way to protect the environment because abandoning a core switch would result in high carbon emissions, which is much more costly than the power fees of a core switch. Huawei's next-generation data center switches support a capacity upgrade to at least eight times the current capacity. This scalability can support a service life of up to five to 10 years, saving resources and protecting customer investment.

　　Huawei CE12800: Next-generation Data Center Core Switches

　　Huawei’s CE12800 series of are designed for cloud-computing data centers and super-large virtualized data center networks. The CE12800 has high bandwidth scalability and is capable of upgrading bandwidth from 1 Tbps to 4 Tbps per slot. Compared with other core switches, CE12800 is highly competitive in terms of its scalability, virtualization, openness, usability, and energy efficiency. The CE12800 series offer core switches for future-oriented data centers.