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Arista Networks, a provider of cloud networking solutions for large datacenter and computing environments, Fulcrum (News - Alert) Microsystems Inc., a fabless semiconductor company,  and Ixia, a provider of converged IP performance test systems, have reportedly announced the results of a performance and scalability test of 10-Gigabit Ethernet in a cloud computing environment, which was carried out jointly by the three entities.

 

Results of the tests, carried out deploying Fulcrum’s FocalPoint (News - Alert) FM4224 switch silicon, showed high throughput and low latency for Arista Network’s 7148SX switch, which is one of the densest 10GE switches currently available. Also, it becomes evident through the test that high density, low latency 10GE switches in logically flat network architectures offer flexible suppot for large-scale applications.

 

Among these tests, the latency and throughput tests have been validated by the European Advanced Network Test Center or ‘EANTC’. The tests were Performed at Ixia’s (News - Alert) renowned iSimCity facility in Santa Clara, Calif. During testing, the performance of the Arista 7148SX 48-port 10GE SFP+ switch, equipped with Fulcrum’s FocalPoint FM4224 switch silicon, was measured.

 

Deploying full line-rate, large-scale traffic running fully meshed, the tests proved that the switch is able to offer the low-latency and throughput performance which enables lossless data center Ethernet transmission.

 

Throughout testing, the Arista switch displayed considerably low latency, which was as low as 600 nanoseconds between any two ports, while it leveraged IETF RFC 2544 and 2889 throughput test methodologies to yield lossless performance for all frame sizes.

 

The performance of the Arista 7148SX switches in the tests resulted in the absence of packet drops in the RFC 2889 full-mesh test results, which ensures that now even the scale-out environments will be able to achieve true non-blocking performance.

 

It was also found out in the tests that the Arista switch delivered at line rate per RFC 3918 mixed class and multicast-only throughput test cases with no packet loss, which makes that switch vital in cloud networking applications too, as multicast traffic is rapidly gaining importance in these applications.

 

According to Mike Zeile, President and COO, Fulcrum Microsystems, as high performance data centers move to flat network architectures in order to accommodate the increase in traffic associated with moving into the cloud, it becomes absolutely critical that these port-dense switches have the proper features to ensure reliable transmission of full line rate traffic.

 

Zeile also said that this test data gives a real-world validation of the virtues of FocalPoint silicon, clearly demonstrating the features key to enabling dense, low-latency switches that scale without performance degradation.

 

Anshul Sadana, Vice president of Systems Engineering, Arista said that today’s cloud networking designs require ultra-low latency and non-blocking performance to deliver a robust platform that works for all applications. Sadana noted that with the Arista platform, its customers are no longer worried about the network being a bottleneck.

 

Recently, Arista Networks had signed an agreement with Greenplum Software, a provider of Enterprise Data Cloud solutions for large-scale data warehousing and analytics, to help companies take advantage of new cloud computing and cloud networking paradigms in the data center as part of Greenplum's Enterprise Data Cloud, or “EDC,” initiative.