High-Performance Ethernet for the Enterprise - Force10 Networks

Performance, Simplicity, and Cost-effectiveness
Push High-Performance Ethernet into the Enterprise
Application
NOTE
Executive Summary: Performance, simplicity, and cost-effectiveness have made Ethernet the
networking technology of choice in the Enterprise. Each new generation of Ethernet has proven this
value proposition to be a constant. And with the increasing volume of data traffic in the enterprise,
the decision has already been made: 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GbE) will be the next backbone
technology. High-performance 10 GbE from Force10 Networks gives Enterprises the functionality
and scalability they need to build their next-generation backbones cost-effectively.
“Gigabit Ethernet
will soon become
the new standard for
desktop devices. The
move to 10 Gigabit
Ethernet backbones
is inevitable.”
Utilization of Enterprise backbone networks
continues to grow. Current Gigabit Ethernet
backbones are seeing the same high link utilizations
today that Fast Ethernet (FE) backbones
saw four years ago. 10/100/1000Base-T Network
Interface Cards (NICs) are selling for less than
$100. This means that just as FE became the
new standard when FE NICs reached the same
price point, so to will GbE soon become the new
standard for desktop devices. Hence the move
to 10 Gigabit Ethernet backbones is inevitable.
An evolution in Enterprise architectures is
underway. It has been brought on by increasing
application traffic and by more GbE-attached
servers and storage devices. Packetized media
traffic, streaming content, and Voice-over-IP
(VoIP) are taking hold and demanding more
stringent latency and jitter performance from
the network. In addition, data storage is being
centralized in Storage Area Networks (SANs)
with iSCSI connectivity. As a result, the Enterprise
must change the topology of its network if it is to
accommodate and secure the increased volumes
of storage data.
Keeping up with these changes necessitates a
new option for cost-effective network connectivity
— an option that provides high bandwidth and
low latency without complicating network
management. 10 GbE is that option:
• 10 GbE simplifies backbone engineering by
enabling remote buildings, data centers,
and storage facilities to appear as simple
extensions of the LAN
• 10 GbE reduces the need to outsource MAN
and WAN connections by providing transport
over multiple wide area media: SONET/SDH,
DWDM, and dark fiber
• 10 GbE delivers the bandwidth and low
latency required to migrate storage traffic
off the SAN
•10 GbE from Force10 Networks provides the
line-rate Access Control Lists (ACLs), Quality
of Service (QoS), and queuing features
needed for network security, performance,
and availability
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High-Performance Ethernet for the Enterprise
Application
NOTE
“The answer to
exploding backbone
utilization is not to
complicate the network
with traffic engineering
but to simplify it by
removing congestion
points.”
Increase Bandwidth, Not OPEX
Gigabit Ethernet backbone utilizations of 30%
and more are now common. Companies can
address increasing backbone traffic and optimize
traffic flow by using complex traffic engineering
techniques. They can schedule traffic for off-peak
hours. They can reserve bandwidth for critical
traffic by employing comprehensive queuing
and QoS. And they can keep localized traffic
off of the backbone by placing servers in the
same physical location as users.
But all of these "traffic engineering" techniques
are costly and complex. As congestion increases,
managers spend more time traffic engineering
the network. Further complicating matters, the
Enterprise is dynamic. Traffic patterns change
with new applications, with every reorganization,
and organically as new people and server
are added. Thus traffic engineering becomes an
unending process, and a continuous drain on
Operational Expenditures (OPEX).
The better way to solve growing backbone
utilization problems is with bandwidth. With a
flat budget for network operations, the answer
to exploding backbone utilization is not to
complicate the network with traffic engineering
but to simplify it by removing congestion points.
This can be accomplished easily and costeffectively
with 10 GbE from Force10 Networks.
Like previous generations of Ethernet, 10 GbE
brings proven simplicity, cost-effectiveness, and
high-performance to the backbone. 10 GbE is a
flexible technology supporting short distances
across the LAN, intermediate distances across
the MAN, and long haul across the WAN with
DWDM and SONET/SDH compatibility.
Scalability with 10 GbE in the Core
To build a network that will continue to provide
non-blocking access between users and
resources as it grows, the Enterprise must deploy
a backbone that can scale with meshed nodes
and redundant paths. This topology requires a
switch/router that can support multiple 10 GbE
trunks and forward at line rate between them.
Older switch/routers optimized for GbE do not
have the switching capacity to handle nonblocking
10 GbE connections. In the backbone,
10 GbE provides much more than the convenience
connection these older switches offer.
Figure 1: 10 GbE backbones free network managers from having to "traffic
engineer" their networks by providing high-bandwidth connectivity throughout
the LAN, MAN, and WAN.
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High-Performance Ethernet for the Enterprise
Application
NOTE
“Leveraging full
ASCI-based multicast
support, the E-Series
delivers full 10 GbE
line-rate multicasting
with packet replication
across the switch
fabric.”
Unlike line card upgrades to existing switches,
the Force10 E-Series switch/routers provide
1) the scalability and 10 Gbps line-rate performance
needed to give Enterprise backbones a
10x boost in bandwidth, and 2) the backplane
and switch fabric capacity needed to meet
bandwidth requirements well into the future.
Flexibility to Handle the LAN, MAN,
WAN and SAN
The bandwidth and latency characteristics of
10 GbE provide a common transport mechanism
for supporting data and storage traffic across the
entire Enterprise. 10 GbE supports a range of
distances and is compatible with OC-192c/STM-
64c SONET/SDH links. As a result, it delivers
the flexibility needed to work with the most
cost-effective media available, whether it’s
SONET/SDH, DWDM, or direct fiber connection.
Force10 offers E-Series switch/routers with the
full range of 10 GbE interface options. They
deliver the needed flexibility to extend your LAN,
and even SAN, across the metro and wide area.
Line-Rate Multicast
Until recently, the Enterprise has used broadcast
for collaboration and shared sessions, much
like the old "party line" telephone systems that
enabled every user to hear every other user. On
a small LAN, a shared session can be broadcast
to everyone — even those who don’t want it.
While this may be acceptable in a small LAN,
it definitely won’t do as these sessions grow to
include users in remote locations. Once this
occurs, the Enterprise must find a way to
"selectively broadcast" the shared sessions or the
WAN will be overwhelmed with traffic. For this
reason, the Enterprise has embraced IP multicast.
Today more users are participating in shared
sessions such as audio/video events, seminars,
lectures, distributed meetings, workgroup
collaboration, tutorials and training. As multicast
traffic grows, backbone switch/routers must
support hardware-based multicasting to keep the
backbone running at line rate. Multicast support,
as it exists in many of today’s switch/routers, is
in the "slow path." Networks with this softwarebased
form of multicast can support only a small
percentage of multicast traffic before their overall
performance begins to decline. The E-Series
immunizes the backbone against this problem.
Leveraging ASIC-based multicast support, it
delivers full 10 GbE line-rate multicasting with
packet replication across the switch fabric.
Security and Carrier-Class Availability
As storage traffic moves to IP, the amount of
mission-critical data flowing across the backbone
will increase dramatically. From remote servers
to centralized storage systems, each network link
will be carrying the data of hundreds of users.
Protecting this surging amount of mission-critical
data is imperative. This evolving situation
clearly demands enhanced security and higher
network availability.
As traffic begins to travel at 10 Gbps speeds
across the backbone, carrier-class redundancy
and availability become essential. Carrier-class
platforms such as the Force10 E-Series provide
the features required to protect this valuable
data. The E-Series provides the features needed
to maximize availability and minimize mean
time to repair: early detection of faults, and
redundancy of all key components, including
cooling, power and control; environmental
monitoring.
Enhancing security means filtering traffic to
enforce policy and providing strict access
control to protected resources. With line-rate
ACLs on every port, the E-Series is up to the task
of protecting these resources — even at 10 Gbps
network speeds.
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High-Performance Ethernet for the Enterprise
Application
NOTE
Storage Connectivity and Cluster/Grid
Computing
Enterprises that once turned to mainframes or
supercomputers for their most processor- and
data-intensive applications are now turning to
server clusters and Grids. Clusters and Grids
are made up of tens to thousands of small
commodity servers interconnected with scalable,
high-performance Ethernet networks. Both
clusters and Grids deliver scalable, high-performance
computing "on-tap" — the equivalent of
supercomputer capacity that can be allocated to
authenticated users and applications in real time.
These clusters and Grids require high-speed
connectivity to large storage systems. In the
past, every server had separate connections
to storage systems across a SAN. Now, with
high-performance 10 GbE and iSCSI, servers can
be connected to both the backbone network
and to storage systems via Ethernet.
The Force10 E-Series possesses the ideal attributes
for building scalable, high-performance clusters
and Grids: a high density of GbE and 10 GbE
ports, line-rate performance, and robust L2/L3
capabilities. With the E-Series, non-blocking
clusters of up to 312 server nodes (including
uplink connections), can be built with a single
chassis. Networked, the E-Series allows nonblocking
clusters of well over 3000 server nodes
— a level of scale impossible with products
offering less density and performance.
Conclusion
The widespread deployment of 10 GbE in
Enterprise backbones is no longer a matter of
"if" but now a matter of "when." 10 GbE will
be the next backbone technology because
1) it provides a simple and cost effective means
of relieving backbone congestion, and 2) it
enables the entire Enterprise to be united into
a commonly managed LAN. Force10 offers
Enterprises the industry’s most scalable and
cost-effective solution for building backbones
that will deliver line-rate performance now
and well into the future.
Figure 2: The E-Series delivers the scalability needed for high-performance cluster
and Grid computing
Force10 Networks, Inc.
1440 McCarthy Boulevard
Milpitas, CA 95035 USA
www.force10networks.com
© 2004 Force10 Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. Force10, the Force10 logo, EtherScale, and FTOS are trademarks of
Force10 Networks, Inc. All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
Information in this document is subject to change without notice. Certain features may not yet be generally available. Force10
Networks, Inc. assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document.
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