In a previous posting, I discussed why given all of what we know about the tsunami of traffic heading to and through data centers as a result of the immutable trends of virtualization, mobility, the explosion of apps for our smartphones and tablets, every aspect of data center transformation to accommodate the data storm must be addressed. This included those things making the headlines, such as software defined networking (SDN), Virtual Functions Networks (VFN), cloud storage, becoming application-friendly and fluent, etc. It also includes the more mundane but equally important matter of having the right cabling infrastructure to get the job done.

Just how fast is IP traffic growing that data centers will have to contend with? The Cisco (News - Alert) Visual Networking Index as shown below should give everyone food for thought. 

In addition, in October 2012, Cisco released the Cisco Global Cloud Index Forecast, 2011 - 2016. Highlights from the updated research include the following projections:

• Global data center traffic will grow nearly four-fold from 2011 to 2016.
• By 2016, global data center traffic will reach 6.6 zetabytes per year.
• By 2016, two-thirds of all data center traffic will come from the cloud.
• By 2016, three out of five data center workloads will be processed in the cloud.

The takeaway from this, as noted, is that for IT professionals looking at their needs over the next several years, thinking about whether the physical infrastructure for carrying all of that traffic between their servers and connecting to the outside world is critical. And, reality is that if it has not already been done, handling much higher speeds, moving from 10G to 40G and more likely to 100G Ethernet cabling will become mandatory.  

The migration to 40/100G does not have to be painful

As noted in the previous article, it is one thing to know what you have to do, another to make sure the migration is planned and executed with a minimum of pain. That said, there is a lot to consider and this is a job that needs to be done correctly the first time. In fact, how to move smoothly to 40/100G Ethernet will be the subject of an in-depth webinar, “Taking Your Network to 40/100G Ethernet,” to be held July 18, 2013, at 12 p.m. EDT.

You are invited to join me and Josh Taylor of CABLExpress as we discuss:

·         Why the shift to 40/100G Ethernet is happening

·         The factors that need to be considered when planning your cabling infrastructure

·         Best practices for migrating to 40/100G

·         The next steps for data centers

The numbers say it all. The data storm that was predicted several years ago has already arrived and it is only going to grow in intensity. This is necessitating creation of a strategic approach to readiness, which means that everything needs to be evaluated in terms of whether it will be capable of providing optimal performance in the not too distant future.  Cabling must be part of that consideration and knowing when, what, where, how and why to do in order to migrate to higher speeds and feeds is something that if you have not already considered, you should be, since moving to the cloud and making sure your cloud meets or exceeds expectations should not be cause for concern on any front, physical or virtual.