CEO Focus
Another solution, Open Automation, helps our customers reduce the complexity of virtualised data centres in an open, industry- standard manner. Force10 is fully embracing this shift from
physical to virtual by introducing products that help our customers overcome the challenges of this new virtualised world
way to do that is with automation. By automating common functions, customers can manage the additional complexity caused by virtualisation. For example, Force10’s Open Automation Framework provides mechanisms to automate network functions, dramatically reducing the complexity of managing virtualised data centres.
DCS: And what, if any, is the impact on Force10’s business of this move from the physical to the virtual world of IT?
HW: This migration from physical to virtual IT has resulted in opportunities as well as new challenges for our customers. As such, we have developed new products to help our customers overcome these challenges.
For example the S60, the world’s only access switch designed specifically for virtual data centres, helps our customers overcome the network challenges created by virtual environments.
Another solution, Open Automation, helps our customers reduce the complexity of virtualised data centres in an open, industry-standard manner. Force10 is fully embracing this shift from physical to virtual by introducing products that help our customers overcome the challenges of this new virtualised world.
February/March 2011
DCS: Please provide brief details of any recent product/technology announcements?
HW: In late 2010, Force10 announced a series of new top-or-rack (ToR) products to help customers address the needs of networks in virtual data centre environments. At the ToR, data centre managers are increasingly dealing with unpredictable network traffic patterns driven by heavily virtualised multi-core servers running applications that are bursty in nature such as streaming and storage. These conditions cause network congestion at the I/O, which can result in dropped packets and high application latency. To address this, Force10 introduced the S60 top-of- rack (ToR) Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) switch, the first switch purpose-built for dynamic virtualised data centre environments. The S60 answers challenging application needs and lowers operational costs at the rack edge by leveraging new features and functionality, including ultra-deep buffering and “bare metal” auto- configuration, as well as low power consumption and non-blocking, line- rate switching
That was followed by the launch of the S55, a 1GbE switch that offers non-blocking performance, energy efficient design and advanced network automation features for dynamic data centre environments
And we announced an end-to-end 40 Gigabit Ethernet (40 GbE) solution designed to bring increased performance while delivering network simplicity to converged data centres.
For the data centre edge, we launched our third S-Series product, the S4810 10/40 GbE ToR switch, while for the network core, we announced the new 40 GbE line card for our ExaScale virtualised core switch/router
As part of our Open Automation Framework, we introduced SmartScripts software that enhances network reliability and improves management by providing a scripting environment for Force10 switching platforms.
Also, we announced that Force10’s HyperLink software now supports automated VM/VLAN migration in VMware and Citrix environments to help ensure improved network connectivity and security.
DCS: And what can we expect in the first half of 2011?
HW: This year will be just as exciting as we are planning to announce a number of new innovative technologies that will help our customers deploy dynamic networks for cloud computing environments, among other projects.
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