While the growth craze for flexible high-bandwidth connectivity continues, specifically 10 Gigabit Ethernet switching and routing, so does demand for redundancy, scalability, space consolidation, and power conservation. End users continue to invest in the cloud. They want the ability to access files, data and software from remote locations. Software as a Service (SAAS), voice, and video conferencing continue to become more mainstream over the physical presence in the work place. All of this presumably means greater cost and more hardware being shoehorned into data centers and wiring closets.
Curvature has the inside track on what IT managers are doing to meet the needs of their changing environment and the supporting product trends.
For example, we’ve seen 33% sales growth year over year (YoY) in the Cisco ASR platform, particularly the ASR1000, versus the legacy Catalyst 7200 series platform which has experienced a decline of 36% over the same period. We’ve also seen a 15% drop in Catalyst 6500-E YoY sales as compared to the 4500X series which has grown by 59%, and the 4500R series which has grown 45% over the same period. Finally, we are observing increased interest and, in some cases, enthusiastic adoption of new vendors and platforms, such the Arista Networks and their line of next-generation, software-driven switching solutions for data center, large enterprise, and computing environments.
That shouldn’t surprise anyone when you compare the platforms. The 6500-E and 7200 are still viable and solid solutions for specific applications, however, when you compare a combination of the ASR and 4500X to the 6500-E or the 7200, you’ll see a router and switching solution that is resilient, space efficient, flexible, ultra-redundant, scalable and power conservative. For example, an ASR1006 coupled with 4500X compared to the 6500-E platform offers better performance, has memory to support the ever growing BGP routing table (See: Don’t Get Caught Flapping), high density 10 Gigabit Ethernet availability, redundant ESP’s and RP’s, and advanced cooling options for your modern data center – all at roughly half the height of the 6500-E(8 RU compared to the 15 RU respectively).
When you compare the ASR and 4500X bundle to the 7200 or 6500-E you can see that the ASR + 4500X solution is superior. However, it’s the space efficiency that sets it apart from the other solutions meeting the need for consolidation and power conservation while supporting high bandwidth 10 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity.
