Should data centers replace core and aggregation switches with hundreds of intelligent fiber cables?

"We're getting rid of layers: layers of switches, layers of links between switches..."

New York City:   Tue, 1/13/15 - 11:59pm    View comments
 

Last week Network World's Jim Duffy wrote an interesting article:

Will enhanced servers do away with need for switches?
 

In the article Duffy quoted M.H. Raza, the CEO and founder of the elastic infrastructure vendor Fiber Mountain:

"We're getting rid of layers: layers of switches, layers of links between switches... Switching as a function moves from being inside a box called a switch to a function that co-resides inside a box we call a server. If we put the switching function inside a server, it's the same logic as a rack front-ending a number of servers; it's the housing of a server with a switch in it front-ending a bunch of VMs. Why can't that decision be made at the server? It can be made at the server."

Raza continued:

"The decision could be made by the server... I can assign packets going out the right lane. How many places does it need to go? Ten, 12, 40? Not a problem. When you have an MXC connector you could take them to 32 different destinations. Nobody is talking about this because it is based on how fast silicon photonics will get adopted. But it can be done now. The timing depends on investments and shifts in technology and markets."

Then earlier this week Raza blogged:

Fiber Mountain and Facebook Fabric Networks: Similarities and Differences

Where Raza pointed out:

"Our Glass Core reduces the number of switches even further than Facebook's fabric by replacing core and aggregation switches with hundreds of intelligent fiber cables that connect racks directly to each other. As a result, the network design is simpler and requires far less power."

Related stories:

Fiber Mountain and Facebook Fabric Networks: Similarities and Differences

Will enhanced servers do away with need for switches?
 

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