Industry Experts Discuss 10GBASE-T Advancements to Reduce Energy Consumption in Data Centers
February 16, 2011, WATERTOWN, CT – At a recent Emerging Technology Forum in Portland, OR, experts from leading network infrastructure companies Aquantia, Cisco, Intel and Siemon addressed key advances and considerations in the trend towards increasing market adoption of 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GBASE-T) technologies in the data center. Topics covered at this event were key 10GBASE-T market drivers and projections, the evolution of server connectivity, decreasing power needs and cabling design options with 10GBASE-T, and others. This event offered actionable advice for networking professionals on critical 10GbE decision points across the data center infrastructure. An online video of this expert panel discussion is available at www.siemon.com/expertpanel.
Panel contributors included Dave Chalupsky, Intel Network Architect, Carl Hansen, Senior Product Manager with Intel’s Data Center Standards group, Carrie Higbie, Siemon’s Global Director of Data Center Solutions & Services, Sudeep Goswami, Product Line Manager of Cisco’s Server Access and Virtualization Business Unit and group chair for the Ethernet Alliance 10GBASE-T committee and Sean Lundy, Director of Technical Marketing at Aquantia.
Among the event highlights were Aquantia’s Sean Lundy and Intel’s Carl Hansen and Dave Chalupsky providing insight on how chip innovations from their respective companies were expected to significantly drive down 10GBASE-T power requirements for more energy-efficient 10GbE networks. According to Lundy, “The current 40nm generation can already achieve power of a couple of Watts for connectivity within the rack in data centers and will trend to 1 Watt or less with Energy Efficient Ethernet and migration to finer geometries. We have now achieved a power, area, density envelope that has enabled dual-port LAN on Motherboard (LOM). Between LOM and 48-port high density switching, in 2011, we will see the beginning of the hockey stick growth curve for 10GBASE-T”.
Regarding widespread commercial availability of 10GBASE-T equipment, Cisco’s Sudeep Goswami stated that Cisco is serious about 10GBASE-T and projected that the company’s flagship Nexus product family would join its Catalyst line in supporting 10GBASE-T in 2011.
According to Siemon’s Carrie Higbie, category 6A and higher connectivity is being planned in new data centers, “85% of the new data center designs I see are cabling for 10GBASE-T.” Higbie also noted a continuing upswing in the global use of shielded cabling for 10GBASE-T, including the traditional UTP dominant markets such as the US.
Siemon has been marketing and selling 10GBASE-T ready cabling since 2004 and now that 10GBASE-T equipment and power consumption is becoming more economical, the time has come for customers to take full advantage of their category 6A and higher cabling investment.
For more information and insight from the Aquantia, Cisco, Intel and Siemon expert panel, please view the event video at siemon.com/expertpanel.
About Siemon
Established in 1903, Siemon is an industry leader specializing in the manufacture and innovation of high quality, high-performance network cabling solutions. Headquartered in Connecticut, USA, with global offices, manufacturing and service partners throughout the world, Siemon offers the most comprehensive suite of copper (unshielded and shielded twisted-pair) category 5e, category 6 (Class E), category 6A (Class EA) and category 7/7A (Class F/FA), and multimode and singlemode optical fiber cabling systems available. With over 400 patents specific to structured cabling, from patch cords to patch panels, Siemon Labs invests heavily in R&D and development of industry standards, underlining the company’s long-term commitment to its customers and the industry.