TMCnet News
Dell Advances Data Center Networking Fabrics and Control for SDN, NFV and Cloud SolutionsROUND ROCK, Texas --(Business Wire)-- Dell (News - Alert) today announced new networking solutions to help customers deliver faster results, maximize efficiency and modernize and transform operations in scale-out and cloud-based environments. New products introduced include the Dell Networking Z9500, an energy-efficient, highest density per rack unit, and only pay-as-you-grow 10/40 GbE data center core switch available today. The new Active Fabric Controller and efforts to accelerate Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) solutions into the sector through industry consortiums and collaboration with industry partners such as Red Hat (News - Alert) also can help customers transform and modernize data center infrastructures. Dell is helping customers upgrade data center network architectures to meet new demands imposed by virtualization, changing traffic patterns, and the nature of today's workload needs including cloud-based and "as-a-service" offerings. By using standards-based technologies, Dell delivers architectures that help advance legacy systems, prevent vendor lock-in penalties, and future proof infrastructure for an easier transition to software-defined networking (SDN), cloud-based services and emerging technology approaches such as NFV. Dell Networking Z9500 - Addressing the Challenge of Cost-Effective Scaling The Dell Networking Z9500 Fabric Switch is the highest-density fixed-form factor data center switch with a full suite of L2/L3 routing and switching protocols. The Dell Networking Z9500 switch is designed to address data center 10/40 GbE aggregation requirements through centralized core or distributed core architectures for high performance enterprise data centers, cloud computing, provider hosted data centers, and enterprise LAN cores. The Dell Networking Z9500 is ideal for workloads such as Web 2.0, high performance computing and virtualization.
Dell Active Fabric Controller - Making the OpenStack Connection OpenStack and OpenFlow hold significant promise to advance the infrastructure economics, operational and technical capabilities of modern businesses. However, each can be highly complex and difficult for enterprise IT to adopt. What cloud administrators need is a way to simplify networkin configurations while enhancing network functions for cloud-based services. Dell Active Fabric Controller is a purpose-built SDN platform designed to simply and securely configure and deploy networking functionality in cloud and XaaS environments. Dell Active Fabric Controller is targeted for enterprise OpenStack deployments and as an optional component of Dell OpenStack-Powered cloud solutions. The update offers a single, integrated solution to provide on-demand virtualized network services to OpenStack with fully automated, unified lifecycle management of the physical infrastructure.
From simple plug-and-play device discovery and provisioning, automated topology and forwarding optimization, fabric wide programmability and a simple operational lifecycle, Dell Active Fabric Controller offers a new vision for networking. Active Fabric Controller serves a fundamental building block on both enterprise control software as well as a key element of accelerating NFV deployments with its integration into OpenStack. Dell NFV Efforts - Delivering Solutions and Accelerating Adoption Dell is helping bring innovative NFV solutions to market by spearheading industry consortiums such as CloudNFV and collaborating with industry partners including Red Hat. Just as SDN is increasing network flexibility, reducing costs and driving efficiency within enterprise networks, NFV can equally transform the telecommunications industry by utilizing an open, disaggregated, cloud-based approach.
Supporting Quotes "Dell is committed to changing the game in networking. As a follow on to our recent Open Networking announcement, I'm excited about demonstrating more innovation in bringing new and open solutions to our customers regardless of size," said Tom Burns, vice president and general manager, Dell Networking. "We're extending our leadership in SDN, NFV, and advanced new architectures that maximize customer choice and provide superior economics to the way networking has always been done." "As technology has advanced, fixed-form-factor solutions have proven lower cost, lower latency with a higher degree of reliability," said Shane Stakem, senior director - Network Operations, Joyent Inc. "We have become believers that the spine and leaf fabric design, which Dell Networking has based on open standards, is not only here to stay but, in fact, has a substantial advantage over competing solutions such as proprietary lock-in fabrics." "Scale-out and cloud data centers are leading the transition to a more programmable, software-driven network infrastructure," said John Fruehe, analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. "Dell's experience in these areas, along with its strong emphasis on a standards-based approach, can be seen in these new networking products. This brings the agile benefits of these next-generation workloads to the mainstream, so businesses can drive down their network and management costs." "OpenStack and SDN represent transformative technologies," said Radhesh Balakrishnan, general manager, Virtualization and OpenStack, Red Hat. "Red Hat is deeply committed to delivering an enterprise-ready OpenStack, accelerating adoption of SDN and creating an open foundation for NFV. By collaborating with Dell, we're taking the hard work out of SDN in OpenStack for customers." Availability
Additional Information:
About Dell Dell Inc. listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services that give them the power to do more. For more information, visit www.dell.com. *Based on internal Dell research performed in February 2014. Actual performance will vary.
|