Impact of Chip Shortage on Datacenter Industry

As the global chip shortage let rip, many chip manufacturers have to slow or even halt semiconductor production. Makers of all kinds of electronics such as switches, PCs, servers are all scrambling to get enough chips in the pipeline to match the surging demand for their products. Every manufacturer, supplier and solution provider in datacenter industry is feeling the impact of the ongoing chip scarcity. However, relief is nowhere in sight yet.

What’s Happening?

Due to the rise of AI and cloud computing, datacenter chips have been a highly charged topic in recent times. As networking switches and modern servers, indispensable equipment in datacenter applications, use more advanced components than an average consumer’s PC, naturally when it comes to chip manufacturers and suppliers, data centers are given the top priority. However, with the demand for data center machines far outstripping supply, chip shortages may continue to be pervasive across the next few years. Coupled with economic uncertainties caused by the pandemic, it further puts stress on datacenter management.

According to a report from the Dell’Oro Group, robust datacenter switch sales over the past year could foretell a looming shortage. As the mismatch in supply and demand keeps growing, enterprises looking to buy datacenter switches face extended lead times and elevated costs over the course of the next year.

“So supply is decreasing and demand is increasing,” said Sameh Boujelbene, leader of the analyst firm’s campus and data-center research team. “There’s a belief that things will get worse in the second half of the year, but no consensus on when it’ll start getting better.”

Back in March, Broadcom said that more than 90% of its total chip output for 2021 had already been ordered by customers, who are pressuring it for chips to meet booming demand for servers used in cloud data centers and consumer electronics such as 5G phones.

“We intend to meet such demand, and in doing so, we will maintain our disciplined process of carefully reviewing our backlog, identifying real end-user demand, and delivering products accordingly,” CEO Hock Tan said on a conference call with investors and analysts.

Major Implications

Extended Lead Times

Arista Networks, one of the largest data center networking switch vendors and a supplier of switches to cloud providers, foretells that switch-silicon lead times will be extended to as long as 52 weeks.

“The supply chain has never been so constrained in Arista history,” the company’s CEO, Jayshree Ullal, said on an earnings call. “To put this in perspective, we now have to plan for many components with 52-week lead time. COVID has resulted in substrate and wafer shortages and reduced assembly capacity. Our contract manufacturers have experienced significant volatility due to country specific COVID orders. Naturally, we’re working more closely with our strategic suppliers to improve planning and delivery.”

Hock Tan, CEO of Broadcom, also acknowledged on an earnings call that the company had “started extending lead times.” He said, “part of the problem was that customers were now ordering more chips and demanding them faster than usual, hoping to buffer against the supply chain issues.”

Elevated Cost

Vertiv, one of the biggest sellers of datacenter power and cooling equipment, mentioned it had to delay previously planned “footprint optimization programs” due to strained supply. The company’s CEO, Robert Johnson, said on an earnings call, “We have decided to delay some of those programs.”

Supply chain constraints combined with inflation would cause “some incremental unexpected costs over the short term,” he said, “To share the cost with our customers where possible may be part of the solution.”

“Prices are definitely going to be higher for a lot of devices that require a semiconductor,” says David Yoffie, a Harvard Business School professor who spent almost three decades serving on the board of Intel.

Conclusion

There is no telling that how the situation will continue playing out and, most importantly, when supply and demand might get back to normal. Opinions vary on when the shortage will end. The CEO of chipmaker STMicro estimated that the shortage will end by early 2023. Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger said it could last two more years.

As a high-tech network solutions and services provider, FS has been actively working with our customers to help them plan for, adapt to, and overcome the supply chain challenges, hoping that we can both ride out this chip shortage crisis. At least, we cannot lose hope, as advised by Bill Wyckoff, vice president at technology equipment provider SHI International, “This is not an ‘all is lost’ situation. There are ways and means to keep your equipment procurement and refresh plans on track if you work with the right partners.”

Article Source: Impact of Chip Shortage on Datacenter Industry

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Infographic – What Is a Data Center?FacebookTwitterEmail分享

Data Center White Space and Gray Space

Nowadays, with the advent of the 5G era and the advancement of technology, more and more enterprises rely on IT for almost any choice. Therefore, their demand for better data center services has increased dramatically.

However, due to the higher capital and operating costs caused by the cluttered distribution of equipment in data centers, the space has become one of the biggest factors restricting data centers. In order to solve that problem, it’s necessary to optimize the utilization of existing space, for example, to consolidate white space and gray space in data centers.

What is data center white space?

Data center white space refers to the space where IT equipment and infrastructure are located. It includes servers, storage, network gear, racks, air conditioning units, power distribution systems.

White space is usually measured in square feet, ranging anywhere from a few hundred to a hundred thousand square feet. It can be either raised floor or hard floor (solid floor). Raised floors are developed to provide locations for power cabling, tracks for data cabling, cold air distribution systems for IT equipment cooling, etc. It can have access to all elements easily. Different from raised floors, cooling and cabling systems for hard floors are installed overhead. Today, there is a trend from raised floors to hard floors.

Typically, the white space area is the only productive area where an enterprise can utilize the data center space. Moreover, online activities like working from home have increased rapidly in recent years, especially due to the impact of COVID-19, which has increased business demand for data center white space. Therefore, the enterprise has to design data center white space with care.data center white space

What is data center gray space?

Different from data center white space, data center gray space refers to the space where back-end equipment is located. This includes switchgear, UPS, transformers, chillers, and generators.

The existence of gray space is to support the white space, therefore the amount of gray space in equipment is determined by the space assigned for data center white space. The more white space is needed, the more backend infrastructure is required to support it.data center gray space

How to improve the efficiency of space?

Building more data centers and consuming more energy is not a good option for IT organizations to make use of data center space. To increase data center sustainability and reduce energy costs, it’s necessary to use some strategies to combine data center white space and gray space, thus optimizing the efficiency of data center space.

White Space Efficiency Strategies

  • Virtualized technology: The technology of virtualization can integrate many virtual machines into physical machines, reducing physical hardware and saving lots of data center space. Virtualization management systems such as VMware and Hyper V can create a virtualized environment.
  • Cloud computing resources: With the help of the public cloud, enterprises can transfer data through the public internet, thus reducing their needs for physical servers and other IT infrastructure.
  • Data center planning: DCIM software, a kind of data center infrastructure management tool, can help estimate current and future power and server needs. It can also help data centers track and manage resources and optimize their size to save more space.
  • Monitor power and cooling capacity: In addition to the capacity planning about space, monitoring power, and cooling capacity is also necessary to properly configure equipment.

Gray Space Efficiency Strategies

  • State-of-art technologies: Technologies like flywheels can increase the power of the machine, reducing the number of batteries required for the power supply. Besides, the use of solar panels can reduce data center electricity bills. And water cooling can also help reduce the costs of cooling solutions.

Compared with white space efficiency techniques, grace space efficiency strategies are pretty less. However, the most efficient plan is to combine data center white space with gray space. By doing so, enterprises can realize the optimal utilization of data center space.

Article Source: Data Center White Space and Gray Space

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Infographic – What Is a Data Center?

The Internet is where we store and receive a huge amount of information. Where is all the information stored? The answer is data centers. At its simplest, a data center is a dedicated place that organizations use to house their critical applications and data. Here is a short look into the basics of data centers. You will get to know the data center layout, the data pathway, and common types of data centers.

what is a data center

To know more about data centers, click here.

Article Source: Infographic – What Is a Data Center?

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Infographic — Evolution of Data Centers

What Is a Containerized Data Center: Pros and Cons

The rise of the digital economy has promoted the rapid and vigorous development of industries like cloud computing, Internet of Things, and big data, which have put forward higher requirements for data centers. The drawbacks of traditional data centers have emerged gradually, which are increasingly unable to meet the needs of the market. The prefabricated containerized data center meets the current market demand and will usher in a period of rapid development.

What Is a Containerized Data Center?

A containerized data center comes equipped with data center infrastructures housed in a container. There are different types of containerized data centers, ranging from simple IT containers to comprehensive all-in-one systems integrating the entire physical IT infrastructure.

Generally, a containerized data center includes networking equipment, servers, cooling system, UPS, cable pathways, storage devices, lighting and physical security systems.

A Containerized Data Center
A Containerized Data Center

Pros of Containerized Data Centers

Portability & Durability

Containerized data centers are fabricated in a manufacturing facility and shipped to the end-user in containers. Due to the container appearance, they are flexible to move and cost-saving compared to traditional data centers. What’s more, containers are dustproof, waterproof, and shock-resistant, making containerized data centers suitable for various harsh environments.

Rapid Deployment

Unlike traditional data centers with limited flexibility and difficult management, containerized data centers are prefabricated and pretested at the factory, and are transported to the deployment site for direct set-up. With access to utility power, network and water, the data center can work well. Therefore, the on-site deployment period for containerized data centers is substantially shortened to 2~3 months, demonstrating rapid and flexible deployment.

Energy Efficiency

Containerized data centers are designed for energy efficiency, which effectively limits ongoing operational costs. They enable power and cooling systems to match capacity and workload well, improving work efficiency and reducing over-configuration. More specifically, containerized data centers adopt in-row cooling systems to deliver air to adjacent hotspots with strict airflow management, which greatly improves cold air utilization, saves space and electricity costs in the server room, and reduces power usage efficiency (PUE).

High Scalability

Because of its unique modular design, a containerized data center is easy to install and scale up. More data centers can be added to the modular architecture of containerized data centers according to the requirements to optimize the IT configuration in a data center. With high scalability, containerized data centers can meet the changing demands of the organization rapidly and effortlessly.

Cons of Containerized Data Centers

Limited Computing Performance: Although it contains the entire IT infrastructure, a containerized data center still lacks the same computing capability as a traditional data center.

Low Security: Isolated containerized data centers are more vulnerable to break-ins than data center buildings. And without numerous built-in redundancies, an entire containerized data center can be shut down by a single point of failure.

Lack of Availability: It is challenging and expensive to provide utilities and networks for containerized data centers placed in edge areas.

Conclusion

Despite some shortcomings, containerized data centers have obvious advantages over traditional data centers. From the perspective of both current short-term investment and future long-term operating costs, containerized data centers have become the future trend of data center construction at this stage.

Article Source: What Is a Containerized Data Center: Pros and Cons

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5G and Multi-Access Edge Computing

Over the years, the Internet of Things and IoT devices have grown tremendously, effectively boosting productivity and accelerating network agility. This technology has also elevated the adoption of edge computing while ushering in a set of advanced edge devices. By adopting edge computing, computational needs are efficiently met since the computing resources are distributed along the communication path, i.e., via a decentralized computing infrastructure.

One of the benefits of edge computing is improved performance as analytics capabilities are brought closer to the machine. An edge data center also reduces operational costs, thanks to the reduced bandwidth requirement and low latency.

Below, we’ve explored more about 5G wireless systems and multi-access edge computing (MEC), an advanced form of edge computing, and how both extend cloud computing benefits to the edge and closer to the users. Keep reading to learn more.

What Is Multi-Access Edge Computing

Multi-access edge computing (MEC) is a relatively new technology that offers cloud computing capabilities at the network’s edge. This technology works by moving some computing capabilities out of the cloud and closer to the end devices. Hence data doesn’t travel as far, resulting in fast processing speeds.

Ideally, there are two types of MEC, dedicated MEC and distributed MEC. Dedicated MEC is typically deployed at the customer’s site on a mobile private network and is designed only for one business. On the other hand, distributed MEC is deployed on a public network, either 4G or 5G, and connects shared assets and resources.

With both the dedicated and distributed MEC, applications run locally, and data is processed in real or near real-time. This helps avoid latency issues for faster response rates and decision-making. MEC technology has seen wider adoption in video analytics, augmented reality, location services, data caching, local content distribution, etc.

How MEC and 5G are Changing Different Industries

At the heart of multi-access edge computing are wireless and radio access network technologies that open up different networks to a wide range of innovative services. Today, 5G technology is the ultimate network that supports ultra-reliable low latency communication. It also provides an enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) capability for use cases involving significant data rates such as virtual reality and augmented reality.

That said, 5G use cases can be categorized into three domains, massive IoT, mission-critical IoT, and enhanced mobile broadband. Each of the three categories requires different network features regarding security, mobility, bandwidth, policy control, latency, and reliability.

Why MEC Adoption Is on the Rise

5G MEC adoption is growing exponentially, and there are several reasons why this is the case. One reason is that this technology aligns with the distributed and scalable nature of the cloud, making it a key driver of technical transformation. Similarly, MEC technology is a critical business transformation change agent that offers the opportunity to improve service delivery and even support new market verticals.

Among the top use cases driving the high level of 5G, MEC implementation includes video content delivery, the emergence of smart cities, smart utilities (e.g., water and power grids), and connected cars. This also showcases the significant role MEC plays in different IoT domains. Here’s a quick overview of the primary use cases:

  • Autonomous vehicles – 5G MEC can help enhance operational functions such as continuous sensing and real-time traffic monitoring. This reduces latency issues and increases bandwidth.
  • Smart homes – MEC technology can process data locally, boosting privacy and security. It also reduces communication latency and allows for fast mobility and relocation.
  • AR/VR – Moving computational capabilities and processes to edge amplifies the immersive experience to users, plus it extends the battery-life of AR/VR devices.
  • Smart energy – MEC resolves traffic congestion issues and delays due to huge data generation and intermittent connectivity. It also reduces cyber-attacks by enforcing security mechanisms closer to the edge.
MEC Adoption
MEC Adoption

Getting Started With 5G MEC

One of the key benefits of adopting 5G MEC technology is openness, particularly API openness and the option to integrate third-party apps. Standards compliance and application agility are the other value propositions of multi-access edge computing. Therefore, enterprises looking to benefit from a flexible and open cloud should base their integration on the key competencies they want to achieve.

One of the challenges common during the integration process is hardware platforms’ limitations, as far as scale and openness are concerned. Similarly, deploying 5G MEC technology is costly, especially for small-scale businesses with limited financial backing. Other implementation issues include ecosystem and standards immaturity, software limitations, culture, and technical skillset challenges.

To successfully deploy multi-access edge computing, you need an effective 5G MEC implementation strategy that’s true and tested. You should also consider partnering with an expert IT or edge computing company for professional guidance.

5G MEC Technology: Key Takeaways

Edge-driven transformation is a game-changer in the modern business world, and 5G multi-access edge computing technology is undoubtedly leading the cause. Enterprises that embrace this new technology in their business models benefit from streamlined operations, reduced costs, and enhanced customer experience.

Even then, MEC integration isn’t without its challenges. Companies looking to deploy multi-access edge computing technology should have a solid implementation strategy that aligns with their entire digital transformation agenda to avoid silos.

Article Source: 5G and Multi-Access Edge Computing

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Carrier Neutral vs. Carrier Specific: Which to Choose?

As the need for data storage drives the growth of data centers, colocation facilities are increasingly important to enterprises. A colocation data center brings many advantages to an enterprise data center, such as carriers helping enterprises manage their IT infrastructure that reduces the cost for management. There are two types of hosting carriers: carrier-neutral and carrier-specific. In this article, we will discuss the differentiation of them.

Carrier Neutral and Carrier Specific Data Center: What Are They?

Accompanied by the accelerated growth of the Internet, the exponential growth of data has led to a surge in the number of data centers to meet the needs of companies of all sizes and market segments. Two types of carriers that offer managed services have emerged on the market.

Carrier-neutral data centers allow access and interconnection of multiple different carriers while the carriers can find solutions that meet the specific needs of an enterprise’s business. Carrier-specific data centers, however, are monolithic, supporting only one carrier that controls all access to corporate data. At present, most enterprises choose carrier-neutral data centers to support their business development and avoid some unplanned accidents.

There is an example, in 2021, about 1/3 of the cloud infrastructure in AWS was overwhelmed and down for 9 hours. This not only affected millions of websites, but also countless other devices running on AWS. A week later, AWS was down again for about an hour, bringing down the Playstation network, Zoom, and Salesforce, among others. The third downtime of AWS also impacted Internet giants such as Slack, Asana, Hulu, and Imgur to a certain extent. 3 outages of cloud infrastructure in one month took a beyond measure cost to AWS, which also proved the fragility of cloud dependence.

In the above example, we can know that the management of the data center by the enterprise will affect the business development due to some unplanned accidents, which is a huge loss for the enterprise. To lower the risks caused by using a single carrier, enterprises need to choose a carrier-neutral data center and adjust the system architecture to protect their data center.

Why Should Enterprises Choose Carrier Neutral Data Center?

Carrier-neutral data centers are data centers operated by third-party colocation providers, but these third parties are rarely involved in providing Internet access services. Hence, the existence of carrier-neutral data centers enhances the diversity of market competition and provides enterprises with more beneficial options.

Another colocation advantage of a carrier-neutral data center is the ability to change internet providers as needed, saving the labor cost of physically moving servers elsewhere. We have summarized several main advantages of a carrier-neutral data center as follows.

Why Should Enterprises Choose Carrier Neutral Data Center

Redundancy

A carrier-neutral colocation data center is independent of the network operators and not owned by a single ISP. Out of this advantage, it offers enterprises multiple connectivity options, creating a fully redundant infrastructure. If one of the carriers loses power, the carrier-neutral data center can instantly switch servers to another online carrier. This ensures that the entire infrastructure is running and always online. On the network connection, a cross-connect is used to connect the ISP or telecom company directly to the customer’s sub-server to obtain bandwidth from the source. This can effectively avoid network switching to increase additional delay and ensure network performance.

Options and Flexibility

Flexibility is a key factor and advantage for carrier-neutral data center providers. For one thing, the carrier neutral model can increase or decrease the network transmission capacity through the operation of network transmission. And as the business continues to grow, enterprises need colocation data center providers that can provide scalability and flexibility. For another thing, carrier-neutral facilities can provide additional benefits to their customers, such as offering enterprise DR options, interconnect, and MSP services. Whether your business is large or small, a carrier-neutral data center provider may be the best choice for you.

Cost-effectiveness

First, colocation data center solutions can provide a high level of control and scalability, expanding opportunity to storage, which can support business growth and save some expenses. Additionally, it also lowers physical transport costs for enterprises. Second, with all operators in the market competing for the best price and maximum connectivity, a net neutral data center has a cost advantage over a single network facility. What’s more, since freedom of use to any carrier in a carrier-neutral data center, enterprises can choose the best cost-benefit ratio for their needs.

Reliability

Carrier-neutral data centers also boast reliability. One of the most important aspects of a data center is the ability to have 100% uptime. Carrier-neutral data center providers can provide users with ISP redundancy that a carrier-specific data center cannot. Having multiple ISPs at the same time gives better security for all clients. Even if one carrier fails, another carrier may keep the system running. At the same time, the data center service provider provides 24/7 security including all the details and uses advanced technology to ensure the security of login access at all access points to ensure that customer data is safe. Also, the multi-layered protection of the physical security cabinet ensures the safety of data transmission.

Summary

While many enterprises need to determine the best option for their company’s specific business needs, by comparing both carrier-neutral and carrier-specific, choosing a network carrier neutral data center service provider is a better option for today’s cloud-based business customers. Several advantages, such as maximizing total cost, lower network latency, and better network coverage, are of working with a carrier-neutral managed service provider. With no downtime and constant concerns about equipment performance, IT decision-makers for enterprise clients have more time to focus on the more valuable areas that drive continued business growth and success.

Article Source: Carrier Neutral vs. Carrier Specific: Which to Choose?

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Data Center Infrastructure Basics and Management Solutions

Data center infrastructure refers to all the physical components in a data center environment. These physical components play a vital role in the day-to-day operations of a data center. Hence, data center management challenges are an urgent issue that IT departments need to pay attention to. On the one hand, it is to improve the energy efficiency of the data center; on the other hand, it is to know about the operating performance of the data center in real-time ensuring its good working condition and maintaining enterprise development.

Data Center Infrastructure Basics

The standard for data center infrastructure is divided into four tiers, each of which consists of different facilities. They mainly include cabling systems, power facilities, cooling facilities, network infrastructure, storage infrastructure, and computing resources.

There are roughly two types of infrastructure inside a data center: the core components and IT infrastructure. Network infrastructure, storage infrastructure, and computing resources belong to the former, while cooling equipment, power, redundancy, etc. belong to the latter.

Core Components

Network, storage, and computing systems are vital infrastructures for data centers to achieve sharing access to applications and data, providing data centers with shared access to applications and data. Also, they are the core components of data centers.

Network Infrastructure

Datacenter network infrastructure is a combination of network resources, consisting of switches, routers, load balancing, analytics, etc., to facilitate the storage and processing of applications and data. Modern data center networking architectures, through using full-stack networking and security virtualization platforms that support a rich set of data services, can achieve connecting everything from VMs, containers, and bare-metal applications, while enabling centralized management and fine-grained security controls.

Storage Infrastructure

Datacenter storage is a general term for the tools, technologies and processes for designing, implementing, managing and monitoring storage infrastructure and resources in data centers, mainly referring to the equipment and software technologies that implement data and application storage in data center facilities. These include hard drives, tape drives and other forms of internal and external storage and backup management software utilities external storage facilities/solutions.

Computing Resources

A data center meter is a memory and processing power to run applications, usually provided by high-end servers. In the edge computing model, the processing and memory used to run applications on servers may be virtualized, physical, distributed among containers or distributed among remote nodes.

IT Infrastructure

As data centers become critical to enterprise IT operations, it is equally important to keep them running efficiently. When designing data center infrastructure, it is necessary to evaluate its physical environment, including cabling system, power system, cooling system to ensure the security of the physical environment of the data center.

Cabling Systems

The integrated cabling is an important part of data center cable management, supporting the connection, intercommunication and operation of the entire data center network. The system is usually composed of copper cables, optical cables, connectors and wiring equipment. The application of the data center integrated wiring system has the characteristics of high density, high performance, high reliability, fast installation, modularization, future-oriented, and easy application.

Power Systems

Datacenter digital infrastructure requires electricity to operate. Even an interruption of a fraction of a second will result in a significant impact. Hence, power infrastructure is one of the most critical components of a data center. The data center power chain starts at the substation and ends up through building transformers, switches, uninterruptible power supplies, power distribution units, and remote power panels to racks and servers.

Cooling Systems

Data center servers generate a lot of heat while running. Based on this characteristic, cooling is critical to data center operations, aiming to keep systems online. The amount of power each rack can keep cool by itself places a limit on the amount of power a data center can consume. Generally, each rack can allow the data center to operate at an average 5-10 kW cooling density, but some may be higher.

data center

Data Center Infrastructure Management Solutions

Due to the complexity of IT equipment in a data center, the availability, reliability, and maintenance of its components require more attention. Efficient data center operations can be achieved through balanced investments in facilities and accommodating equipment.

Energy Usage Monitoring Equipment

Traditional data centers lack the energy usage monitoring instruments and sensors required to comply with ASHRAE standards and collect measurement data for use in calculating data center PUE. It results in a poor monitoring environment for the power system of the data center. One measure is to install energy monitoring components and systems on power systems to measure data center energy efficiency. Enterprise teams can implement effective strategies by the measure to balance overall energy usage efficiency and effectively monitor the energy usage of all other nodes.

Cooling Facilities Optimization

Independent computer room air conditioning units used in traditional data centers often have separate controls and set points, resulting in excessive operation due to temperature and humidity adjustments. It’s a good way for helping servers to achieve cooling by creating hot-aisle/cold-aisle layouts to maximize the flow of cold air to the equipment intakes and the hot exhaust air from the equipment racks. The creation of hot or cold aisles can eliminate the mixing of hot and cold air by adding partitions or ceilings.

CRAC Efficiency Improvement

Packaged DX air conditioners likely compose the most common type of cooling equipment for smaller data centers. These units are often described as CRAC units. There are, however, there are several ways to improve the energy efficiency of the cooling system employing DX units. Indoor CRAC units are available with a few different heat rejection options.

  • – As with rooftop units, adding evaporative spray can improve the efficiency of air-cooled CRAC units.
  • – A pre-cooling water coil can be added to the CRAC unit upstream of the evaporator coil. When ambient conditions allow the condenser water to be cooled to the extent that it provides direct cooling benefits to the air entering the CRAC unit, the condenser water is diverted to the pre-cooling coil. This will reduce or sometimes eliminate the need for compressor-based cooling for the CRAC unit.

DCIM

Data center infrastructure management is the combination of IT and operations to manage and optimize the performance of data center infrastructure within an organization. DCIM tools help data center operators monitor, measure, and manage the utilization and energy consumption of data center-related equipment and facility infrastructure components, effectively improving the relationship between data center buildings and their systems.

DCIM enables bridging of information across organizational domains such as data center operations, facilities, and IT to maximize data center utilization. Data center operators create flexible and efficient operations by visualizing real-time temperature and humidity status, equipment status, power consumption, and air conditioning workloads in server rooms.

Preventive Maintenance

In addition to the above management and operation solutions for infrastructure, unplanned maintenance is also an aspect to consider. Unplanned maintenance typically costs 3-9 times more than planned maintenance, primarily due to overtime labor costs, collateral damage, emergency parts, and service calls. IT teams can create a recurring schedule to perform preventive maintenance on the data center. Regularly checking the infrastructure status and repairing and upgrading the required components promptly can keep the internal infrastructure running efficiently, as well as extend the lifespan and overall efficiency of the data center infrastructure.

Article Source: Data Center Infrastructure Basics and Management Solutions

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Why Green Data Center Matters

Background

Green data centers appear in the concept of enterprise construction, due to the continuous growth of new data storage requirements and the steady enhancement of green environmental protection awareness. Newly retained data must be protected, cooled, and transferred efficiently. This means that the huge energy demands of data centers present challenges in terms of cost and sustainability, and enterprises are increasingly concerned about the energy demands of their data centers. It can be seen that sustainable and renewable energy resources have become the development trend of green data centers.

Green Data Center Is a Trend

A green data center is a facility similar to a regular data center that hosts servers to store, manage, and disseminate data. It is designed to minimize environmental impact by providing maximum energy efficiency. Green data centers have the same characteristics as typical data centers, but the internal system settings and technologies can effectively reduce energy consumption and carbon footprints for enterprises.

The internal construction of a green data center requires the support of a series of services, such as cloud services, cable TV services, Internet services, colocation services, and data protection security services. Of course, many enterprises or carriers have equipped their data centers with cloud services. Some enterprises may also need to rely on other carriers to provide Internet and related services.

According to market trends, the global green data center market is worth around $59.32 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 23.5% in the future to 2026. It also shows that the transition to renewable energy sources is accelerating because of the growth of green data centers.

As the growing demand for data storage drives the modernization of data centers, it also places higher demands on power and cooling systems. On the one hand, data centers need to convert non-renewable energy into electricity to generate electricity, resulting in rising electricity costs; on the other hand, some enterprises need to complete the construction of cooling facilities and server cleaning through a lot of water, all of which are ample opportunities for the green data center market. For example, Facebook and Amazon continue to expand their businesses, which has also increased the need for data storage of global companies. These enterprises need a lot of data to complete the analysis of potential customers, but these data processing needs will require a lot of energy. Therefore, the realization of green data centers has become an urgent need for enterprises to solve these problems, and this can also bring more other benefits to enterprises.

Green Data Center Benefits

The green data center concept has grown rapidly in the process of enterprise data center development. Many businesses prefer alternative energy solutions for their data centers, which can bring many benefits to the business. The benefits of green data centers are as follows.

Energy Saving

Green data centers are designed not only to conserve energy, but also to reduce the need for expensive infrastructure to handle cooling and power needs. Sustainable or renewable energy is an abundant and reliable source of energy that can significantly reduce power usage efficiency (PUE). The reduction of PUE enables enterprises to use electricity more efficiently. Green data centers can also use colocation services to decrease server usage, lower water consumption, and reduce the cost of corporate cooling systems.

Cost Reduction

Green data centers use renewable energy to reduce power consumption and business costs through the latest technologies. Shutting down servers that are being upgraded or managed can also help reduce energy consumption at the facility and control operating costs.

Environmental Sustainability

Green data centers can reduce the environmental impact of computing hardware, thereby creating data center sustainability. The ever-increasing technological development requires the use of new equipment and technologies in modern data centers, and the power consumption of these new server devices and virtualization technologies reduces energy consumption, which is environmentally sustainable and brings economic benefits to data center operators.

green data center

Enterprise Social Image Enhancement

Today, users are increasingly interested in solving environmental problems. Green data center services help businesses resolve these issues quickly without compromising performance. Many customers already see responsible business conduct as a value proposition. Enterprises, by meeting compliance, regulatory requirements and regulations of the corresponding regions through the construction of green data centers, improve the image of their own social status.

Reasonable Use of Resources

In an environmentally friendly way, green data centers can allow enterprises to make better use of various resources such as electricity, physical space, and heat, integrating the internal facilities of the data center. It promotes the efficient operation of the data center while achieving rational utilization of resources.

5 Ways to Create a Green Data Center

After talking about the benefits of a green data center, then how to build a green data center. Here are a series of green data center solutions.

  • Virtualization extension: Enterprises can build a virtualized computer system with the help of virtualization technology, and run multiple applications and operating systems through fewer servers, thereby realizing the construction of green data centers.
  • Renewable energy utilization: Enterprises can opt for solar panels, wind turbines or hydroelectric plants that can generate energy to power backup generators without any harm to the environment.
  • Enter eco mode: Using an Alternating current USPs is one way to switch eco mode. This setup can significantly improve data center efficiency and PUE. Alternatively, enterprises can reuse equipment, which not only saves money, but also eliminates unnecessary emissions from seeping into the atmosphere.
  • Optimized cooling: Data center infrastructure managers can introduce simple and implementable cooling solutions, such as deploying hot aisle/cold aisle configurations. Data centers can further accelerate cooling output by investing in air handlers and coolers, and installing economizers that draw outside air from the natural environment to build green data center cooling systems.
  • DCIM and BMS systems: DCIM software and BMS software can help data centers managers identify and document ways to use more efficient energy, helping data centers become more efficient and achieve sustainability goals.

Conclusion

Data center sustainability means reducing energy/water consumption and carbon emissions to offset increased computing and mobile device usage to keep business running smoothly. The development of green data centers has become an imperative development trend, and it also caters to the green goals of global environmental protection. As a beneficiary, enterprises can not only save operating costs, but also effectively reduce energy consumption. This is also an important reason for the construction of green data centers.

Article Source: Why Green Data Center Matters

Related Articles:

Data Center Infrastructure Basics and Management Solutions

What Is a Data Center?

8, 24, 48 Port Switch Recommendations

There are multiple switches in the market and their count of ports can come with 8, 12, 24, 48, etc. Among them, 8, 24, 48 port switch are more commonly used. Well, what should be considered before buying 8, 24, 48 port switch? Are there any recommendations for it?

What to Consider Before Buying 8, 24, 48 Port Switch?

When buying 8, 24, 48 port switch in the market, you can consider the following factors.

  • Features – The Gigabit switch has many features. Except for the basic features like VLAN, security, warranty and so on, you’d better take switching capacity, max power consumption, continuous availability into consideration. Moreover, stack and fanless designs are considerable factors as well. Stack design is able to save the place and fanless design helps reduce the power consumption and noise. Besides, you can choose managed switch or unmanaged switch and the former offers better performance than the latter.
  • Switch ports – Except for the number of ports which should be considered, there are some different types of ports based on their port speeds. For example, RJ 45 port, SFP port, SFP+ port, QSFP+ port, QSFP28 port, etc. You can choose a suitable one according to your need.
  • Price – The switches from famous brands are usually costly and there are some three-party networking vendors offering cost-effective switches. If you have limited costs, you can consider buying switches from reliable three-party vendors.

8, 24, 48 Port Switch Recommendations

The right Gigabit switch should meet the needs of your organization and keep your network running efficiently. Here are some switches recommendations for you.

8 Port Switch

If you have only a few devices to be connected, this 8 port Gigabit switch may be a good choice. FS S1150-8T2F 8 port Gigabit PoE+ managed switch has 2 SFP ports, which transmission distance is up to 120km. It is highly flexible that controls L2-l7 data based on physical port and has powerful ACL functions to access. What’s more, it features superior performance in stability and environmental adaptability. This 8 port switch may be one of the best gigabit switches for home network, including weather-proof IP cameras with windshield wiper and heater, high-performance AP and IP telephone.

8, 24, 48 Port Switch

Figure 1: 8 port Gigabit switches

24 Port Switch

If you are looking for the best 24 port Gigabit switch, this S1400-24T4F managed PoE+ switch would be one of your proper choices. It comes with 24x 10/100/1000Base-T RJ45 Ethernet ports, 1x console port, and 4x Gigabit SFP slots. It can protect the sensitive information and optimizes the network bandwidth to deliver information more effectively. This switch is the best fit for SMBs or entry-level enterprises which need to power for the surveillance, IP Phone, IP Camera or wireless devices.

24 port switch

Figure 2: 24 port switch

48 Port Switch

When you need to uplink a Gigabit SFP switch to a higher end 10G SFP+ switch for network upgrade, this 48 port switch can meet your demand. FS S1600-48T4S PoE+ switch offers 4 SFP+ ports for high-capacity uplinks. It also provides integrated L2+ features such as 802.1Q VLAN, QoS, IGMP Snooping and Static Routing. What’s more, this solution makes it easier to deploy wireless access point (AP) and IP-based terminal network equipment with PoE technology. This switch would be one of your choices if you need the best managed switch for small business or data center.

48 port switch

Figure 3: 48 port switch

Summary

The best Gigabit switch is the one that suits your network most. When you buying 8, 24, 48 port switch, remember to consider the factors mentioned above. FS provides various switches with high-quality and high performance. If you have any needs, welcome to visit FS.COM.

Related Article: FS 24 Port Gigabit Switch Selection Guide

PoE Switch vs Non-PoE Switch: Which One to Choose?

Instead of non-PoE switch, the PoE switch is more commonly used to build the wireless network. Well, what are PoE switch and non-PoE switch? What is the difference between PoE switch vs non-PoE switch? Which one to choose? In this article, we will share some insights and help solve the above questions.

PoE Switch vs Non-PoE Switch: What Are They?

To understand the PoE switch, we’d better know Power over Ethernet first. PoE is a revolutionary technology that allows network cable to provide both data and power for the PoE-enabled devices. The PoE can provide higher power and reduce a lot of power cables during network. Usually, it is used for VoIP phones, network cameras, and some wireless access points.

PoE switch is a networking device with PoE passthrough which has multiple Ethernet ports to connect network segments. It not only transmits network data but also supplies power via a length of Ethernet network cable, like Cat5 or Cat6. The types of hubs can be classified into 8/12/24/48 port Gigabit PoE switch, or unmanaged and managed PoE network switch. Among the various port designs, the 8 port PoE switch is considered as a decent option for home network and 24 port PoE switch is popular for the business network.

Non-PoE switch, just as the name, is the normal switch, which can only send data to network devices. There is no PoE in the normal switch to supply electrical power for end users over Ethernet.

PoE Switch vs Non-PoE Switch: What’s the Difference?

The biggest difference between PoE switch and non-PoE switch is the PoE accessibility. As mentioned above, the PoE switch is PoE enabled while the non-PoE switch is not PoE enabled.

For PoE switch, you can mix PoE and non-PoE devices on the same one. Because if there is no need to use power, you can turn off the PoE of the PoE switch and use it as a regular witch. However, non-PoE switch can’t support the mixing of PoE and non-PoE devices.

For non-PoE switch, it can be PoE ready only by installing a PoE injector to power a few devices. The injector is able to add electrical power and then transmits both data and power to power devices simultaneously. Users require one extra cable to connect power outlets. In this solution, if a PoE injector goes out, it only affects one device. But if the PoE goes out in a PoE switch, all PoE devices will be down.

PoE switch vs non-PoE switch

Figure 1: PoE switch vs non-PoE switch

PoE Switch vs Non-PoE Switch: Which One to Choose?

Many users may encounter this problem. Should we choose PoE switch or non-PoE switch? Though the non-PoE network switch can also acquire PoE by installing injector. But PoE switch has some advantages over the non-PoE switch.

Flexibility – The PoE switch is powered through existing PoE network infrastructure and eliminates the demand for additional electrical wiring. This gives you flexibility to employ the switch wherever you need.

Good performance – PoE switch is designed with advanced features like high-performance hardware and software, auto-sensing PoE compatibility, strong network security and environmental adaptability. It provides better performance for users.

Cost-efficient – There is no need for users to purchase and deploy additional electrical wires and outlets with PoE switch. Therefore, it makes great savings on installation and maintenance costs.

Conclusion

After the comparison of PoE switch vs non-PoE switch, do you know which one to choose? Actually, it depends on your real needs. FS is a good place to go for the reliable and cheap PoE or non-PoE network switch. Welcome to contact us if you have any needs about it.

Related Article: 24 Port Managed PoE Switch: How Can We Benefit From It?

How to Choose an 8 Port Gigabit Switch?

There are many different network switch in the market and it comes with 8, 16, 24 or 48 ports. Among them, 8 port Gigabit switch is regarded as a cost-effective choice for small-sized families and business use. Then, how to choose an 8 port Gigabit switch? Are there any recommendations for it?

How to Choose an 8 Port Gigabit Switch?

The 8 port Gigabit switch is available in several types, including PoE or Non-PoE, managed or unmanaged, stackable or standalone. The following will tell you how to choose an 8 port switch from these types.

Power over Ethernet (PoE) or Non-PoE Switch

There is no doubt that a Gigabit PoE switch is better than the Non-PoE one. A Gigabit PoE switch is able to transmit both data and power supply over the existing Ethernet cable to network device at the same time. It can help reduce the cabling complexity and save the cost of installation and maintenance. Usually, it is used for VoIP phones, network cameras and some wireless access points. The 8 port Gigabit PoE switch is one of the most popular PoE switches for IP camera system.

Unmanaged or Managed Switch

Unmanaged switch, as a plug & play switch, has limited performance and doesn’t support any configuration interface or options. While managed switches can offer good protection of the data plane, control plane, and management plane. Besides, it is also able to incorporate Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) to provide path redundancy in the Ethernet network. Additionally, managed switch enables more bandwidth to be contributed through the network. This function brings higher network performance and better transmission of delay-sensitive data. For your home use, a managed 8 port Gigabit switch may be a better choice.

Stackable or Standalone Switch

In the use of standalone switches, each switch is managed and configured as an individual entity. However, with the improvement of the network, you will need more switches to connect the devices. So the stackable switch has emerged. Compared to the use of multiple standalone switches, stackable switches provide simplicity, scalability, and flexibility to your network.

8 Port Gigabit Switch Recommendation

FS S1150-8T2F 8 port Gigabit PoE+ managed switch has 8x 10/100/1000Base-T RJ45 Ethernet ports, 1x console port, and 2x Gigabit SFP slots. The transmission distance of its SFP fiber port can be up to 120km, and with high resistance to electromagnetic interference. Besides, this switch complies with PoE+ standard for higher power capacity than PoE standard. It is highly flexible that controls L2-l7 data based on physical port and has powerful ACL functions to access. It also features superior performance in stability, environmental adaptability. This 8 port switch is best fit for weather-proof IP cameras with windshield wiper and heater, high-performance AP and IP telephone.

8 port Gigabit switch

Figure 1: 8 port Gigabit switches

Conclusion

The 8 port Gigabit switch is a cost-effective and efficient solution to satisfy the demands of bandwidth-intensive networking applications. Before buying an 8 port Gigabit switch, you’d better take the quality, power requirement, price, into consideration. If you are looking for the best 8 port Gigabit switch, FS.COM would be one of your proper choices.

Related Article: Using 8 Port PoE Switch for IP Surveillance System

What Is SFP+ Switch And How to Choose It for Home Use?

10G for home use is more and more commonly. When setting up the 10G network for home, people may pay much attention on the SFP+ switch, including its type, performance, price, etc. But do you really know what the SFP+ switch is and how to choose it for your home use?

What Is an SFP+ Switch?

As a network switch, SFP+ switch is used for directing the bandwidth of the network connection to multiple network wired devices. It is also called 10gb switch or 10 Gigabit switch, because it can support up to 10Gb uplink connection. Usually, SFP+ switch works at the data link layer (layer 2) or the network layer (layer 3) of the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) model. That’s to say, some 10Gb switches may be the Layer 2 switch, and some may be the Layer 3 switch.

SFP+ switch

Figure 1: SFP+ switch

SFP+ Switch vs. 10GBASE-T Switch

For 10Gb switch solutions, SFP+ switch and 10GBASE-T switch are two popular choices. 10GBASE-T is an interoperable, standards-based technology that uses RJ45 connector. It can provide backwards compatibility with legacy networks. While SFP+ fiber switch offers little or no backwards compatibility. However, the SFP+ switch uses less power consumption than 10GBASE-T switch. Moreover, SFP+ switch offers better latency with about 0.3 microseconds per link while 10GBASE-T latency is about 2.6 microseconds per link. The last but not the least, the price of 10GBASE-T switch is dramatically dropped down now, so it is cheaper than SFP+ switch. All in all, if cost, flexibility and scalability are more important for you, 10GBase-T solution may be your ideal choice. If you want to lower power consumption and latency, you’d better consider SFP+ solution.

How to Choose SFP+ Switch for Home Use?

When choosing an SFP+ switch for home use in the market, you’ll find there are many options. Here is a guide for you.

Port type – The 10G switch often comes with 10G SFP+ ports, RJ45 or SFP combo ports, and a console port. 10G SFP+ ports are used for uplinking connections and combo ports are deployed for accessing networks. The count of the main ports often come with 8, 12, 24 or 48. Besides, the 8-port and 12-port SFP+ switches are commonly used for home. You can choose a suitable one based on your need.

Performance – 10G switch is a high-compatibility and network-scaling application. It supports advanced features, including MLAG, SFLOW, SNMP, etc. And it facilitates the rapid service deployment and management for both traditional L2/L3/IPv6 networks. You can make a choice according to the detailed features such as the angles of switching capacity, power budget, and switching layer.

Vendor – A reliable vendor can not only offer good-quality switches, but also can help customers solve other problems such as cost, network solutions and so on. Famous brands like Cisco, HP and Dell provide 10Gb switch at the higher price in the market. While some 3rd-party vendors like FS.COM can offer low price but quality switches. If you have cost problem or want to get cost-effective products, you can consider the reliable 3rd-party vendors.

Summary

This article presents some basic information about SFP+ switch for home use. FS provides comprehensive 10G switch solutions, including 10Gb switch, optical transceivers, and cables. If you want to know more about 10Gb switch solutions, welcome to visit FS.COM.

Related Article: Choose 10GBASE-T Copper Over SFP+ for 10G Ethernet

How to Configure DHCP for Multiple VLANs?

Almost every device connected to the Internet needs an IP address. Previously, the countless IP addresses are assigned manually, which costs a lot of time and energy. As DHCP emerges, IT specialists are not required any longer to spend countless hours providing IPs for every device connected to the network device. But what is DHCP? How does it work and how to configure DHCP for multiple VLANs?

What Is DHCP?

DHCP – Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is a network management protocol used on TCP/IP network. There may be at least a DHCP server and many DHCP clients. The DHCP server allows the client to request the IP addresses and other network configurations from the Internet service provider. This process eliminates the need for administrators or users to assign IP address to network devices one by one. Using this protocol, the network administrators will just set up the DHCP server with all the additional network information, and it will do its work dynamically. Both network switch and router can be configured as a DHCP server.

How Does the DHCP Process Look Like?

For the DHCP client that hasn’t accessed the Internet before, it will undergo 4 phases to connect the DHCP server.

dhcp process

Fig 1. DHCP process

1.Discover

DHCP client after being activated will first send a broadcast message to try to look for DHCP servers. In this way, the client request IP address from the DHCP server.

2.Offer

When the DHCP server gets the message from the client, it looks in its pool to find an IP address it can lease out to the client. It then adds the MAC address information of the client and the IP address it will lease out to the ARP table. When this is done, the server sends this information to the client as a DHCPOFFER message.

3.Selection

DHCP client chooses IP address. There may be several DHCP servers sending DHCP-Offer packet, the client only receives the first DHCP-Offer then sends back DHCP-Request packet in broadcast mode to all DHCP servers to request more information on the IP address lease time and verification. The packet includes the contents of the IP address requested from the selected DHCP server.

4.Acknowledge

When the DHCP server receives a DHCP-Request packet from the DHCP client, it confirms the lease and creates a new ARP mapping with the IP address it assigned to the client and the client’s MAC address. And then send this message as a unicast to the client as a DHCPACK.

How to Configure DHCP for Multiple VLANs?

The theory cannot be well digested unless it is combined with the practice. In this section, how to configure DHCP for multiple VLANs is introduced for your reference. Take the following picture as an example.

DHCP configuration

Fig 2. DHCP Configuration for Multiple VLANs

PC1 and PC2 are connected to access port of VLAN switch 1 with VLAN ID 100 and 200.

The DHCP server was supposed to serve both the VLANs.

Command to enable multiple VLANs.

DHCP configuration 1

Command to enable DHCP.

DHCP configuration 2

Add both subnets.

DHCP configuration 3

Run DHCP server.

DHCP configuration 4

Now make PC1 and PC2 as DHCP client. Both should be able to get IP address from DHCP server in their respective VLAN.

Conclusion

How to configure DHCP for multiple VLANs? This issue has been illustrated in the above content. DHCP configuration is worthy of being learned by those who are engaged in fiber optic communication field. You just need to know “How”, and let FS provide you with the best network devices. Ethernet switch like gigabit Ethernet switch and 10gbe switch, and routers are available in FS.

How to Use an Ethernet Switch?

For many household use, it is common to see just a modem and a router. That’s enough for most family network requirements. However, if you have too many computers to manage, an Ethernet switch is definitely what you need. Since network switch is not prevalent in ordinary homes, many people don’t have a clear understanding of it, let alone its usage. Here we will figure out what is an Ethernet switch used for and how to use and Ethernet switch.

What Is an Ethernet Switch?

An Ethernet switch is a network device used to connect different PCs, servers, laptops or other Ethernet devices to a local area network. In this way, the connected devices can communicate with each other. The switch utilizes an MAC access table to exchange data packets among these devices.
Network switches come in many types. Different switches have different applications and functions. They may come in 16, 32 or 64 ports, and also in various port speeds. The basic speed is 10 megabit per second, then 100 megabit. And today we also have faster gigabit Ethernet switch which realizes 1000 megabits per second. Switches that contain more ports or higher speeds are suitable for more demanding conditions.

What Is an Ethernet Switch Used for?

The Ethernet switch plays an integral role in most modern Ethernet local area networks (LANs). Here introduces two switch types for different utilities. The one is the fool-proof unmanaged Ethernet switch and the other is the intelligent managed switch.

Unmanaged Ethernet Switch for Small Size Environment

Unmanaged switches simply allow Ethernet devices to communicate with one another by providing a connection to the network. Unmanaged switches are truly plug and play devices. However, this simplicity of unmanaged Ethernet switches also limits the functionality of a network. Therefore, unmanaged switches are usually used for small size environments like home where the applications are relatively few and simplified.

Managed Ethernet Switch for Data Center

Managed switch is more advanced than unmanaged switch as it not only possesses what the latter features with, but also can be configured and properly managed to offer a more tailored experience. Most managed switches are 10gbe Ethernet switch, 40gbe, 100gbe or much faster switches. Those can be deployed in large data center, server rooms and so on.

How to Use an Ethernet Switch?

Whether it is the unmanaged switch or managed switch, the usage remains essentially the same. It should initially access the network and the power supply. This part introduces using an Ethernet switch.

First, connect modem to Ethernet input line. Modem is the device that brings the signal into the network.

Second, connect router to modem. Router translates the private network address into public address so as to entitle all the connected network devices to the Internet.

Third, connect an Ethernet cable to one port on the switch, then connect the other end to a wired device such as a computer. Repeat this step to connect all PCs, servers, laptops or other Ethernet devices.

Fourth, connect an Ethernet cable to one of the ports at the back of the switch, then connect the other end of the cable to one of the Ethernet ports at the back of the router. The switch is thus becoming the extension of the router. You plug in one output to your router, and the other ones will just split up that connection to give you more hookups.

Fifth, connect the supplied power adapter to the power port on the switch, then connect the other end into a power socket. This step can be omitted if it is a PoE switch.

Ethernet switch setup diagram

Fig 1. Ethernet switch setup diagram

Having finished the connection, the unmanaged switch is ready to go while the managed switch may require further adjustments through a supported method, whether it is a command line interface (accessed via secure shell, etc.), a web interface loaded in your web browser or Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) for remote access. This approach will unleash various options, including port speed, virtual LANs, redundancy, port mirroring, and Quality of Service (QoS) for traffic prioritization.

Conclusion

This article introduces Ethernet switch and illustrates how to use an it. Ethernet switch is basically regarded as the port extension of the router, and also grows with more functions as the network expands. As for the issue—how to use an Ethernet switch with router, please read the post “Network Switch Before or After Router”.

What Does a Network Switch Do in Networking?

As network switch evolves, there emerge various switches from different vendors, working in conditions, equipped with different functions. However, the network switches remain essentially the same despite all apparent changes. So, the following part presents the switches definition and the frequently asked question: what does a network switch do.

Purpose and Functions of a Network Switch

A network switch is a small hardware device that centralizes communications among various linked devices in one local area network (LAN). The fundamental function of a network switch is to exchange data packages among network devices, that is to say, the network switch gets data from any source associated with it and dispatches that data to the appropriate destination. Here take the comparison among router, hub and switch to explain what a network switch can do for our networks.

Providing More Ethernet Ports

As for network switch vs. router, network switch differs from router in the port number. Home routers usually come with three or four Ethernet ports built-in, and there are few free ports after connecting the router with the modem. So the Ethernet switch can work as the extension of router ports. In this way, it is possible to use wires to improve your speed or cut down on wireless interference.

Enabling More Intelligent Data Transmission

Network switch sends data packets to the specific one or more devices, while a hub gets the information and forwards that to every other device apart from the one that really needs the information. To develop a step further, the network switch uses full duplex mode, and communication between different pairs may get overlapped but not interrupted. Whereas in hubs, all devices have to share the same bandwidth by running in half duplex mode, causing a collision, which results in unnecessary packet retransmissions.
As for network switch vs. hub, a network switch joins multiple computers together within one local area network (LAN). A hub connects multiple Ethernet devices together, making them act as a single segment.

What does a network switch do in networking

Three Main Types of Network Switch

To make full use of your network switch, the priority is to make clear of its function as different switches come with different capabilities. There are three types of switches in networking: managed switch, unmanaged switch, and smart or hybrid switch.

Managed Switch

Managed switch offers full management capabilities and high-levels of network security and precise control, and usually used in enterprise networks and data centers. The scalability of these switches entitles networks room to grow.
Managed switches can optimize a network’s speed and resource utilization. Admins manage resources through a text-based command-line interface, so some advanced knowledge is required to set up and run. Most managed switches are 10gb Ethernet switch, 40gb Ethernet switch and 100gb switch.

Unmanaged Switch

For unmanaged switch, the gigabit Ethernet switch itself has no settings or special features, and it exists only to add more Ethernet ports to your home network or small business offices or shops. Additionally, it is easy plug-and-play and relatively simple, so it’s great for companies without IT admins and senior technologists.

Smart or Hybrid Switch

Smart switch is partly a managed switch, as it offers functions like Quality of Service (QoS) and VLANs, but with limited capabilities that can be accessed from the Internet. Its interface is simpler than what managed switch offers. Therefore, no highly-trained staff is needed to set up or run it. It is great for VoIP phones, small VLANs, and workgroups for places like labs. In a word, smart switches let you configure ports and set up virtual networks but don’t have the sophistication to allow monitoring, troubleshooting, or remote-accessing to manage network issues.

Conclusion

The above content summarizes the issue: what does a network switch do. Based on that, three types of switches come with distinct functionality. FS offers a great range of network switches with different features. It has taken all your needs into consideration when producing and testing these switches.

Core Switch Vs Distribution Switch Vs Access Switch

The hierarchical internetworking model defined by Cisco includes core layer, distribution layer and access layer. Therefore, the network switches working in these layers get corresponding names like core switch, distribution switch and access switch. This post mainly explores the confusing problem: core switch vs distribution switch vs access switch.

Definition: Core Switch Vs Distribution Switch Vs Access Switch

What Is Core Switch?

Core switch is not a certain kind of network switch. It refers to the data switch that is positioned at the backbone or physical core of a network. Therefore, it must be a high-capacity switch so as to serve as the gateway to a wide area network (WAN) or the Internet. In a word, it provides the final aggregation point for the network and allows various aggregation modules to work together.

What Is Distribution Switch?

Similarly, the distribution switch lies in distribution layer, and it links upwards to layer core switch and downwards to the access switch. It is also called aggregation switch which functions as a bridge between core layer switch and access layer switch. In addition, distribution switch ensures that the packets are appropriately routed between subnets and VLANs in enterprise network. 10gb switch usually can perform as a distribution switch.

What Is Access Switch?

Access switch generally locates at the access layer for connecting the majority of devices to the network, therefore it usually has high-density ports. It is the most commonly-used gigabit Ethernet switch which communicates directly with the public Internet, mostly used in offices, small server rooms, and media production centers. Both managed and unmanaged switches can be deployed as access layer switch.

core switch vs distribution switch vs access switch

Figure 1: core switch vs distribution switch vs access switch

Comparison: Core Switch Vs Distribution Switch Vs Access Switch

The switches may co-exist in the same network, and coordinate with each other to contribute to an unrestricted network speed with each layer switch performing its own duty. Well, what’s the difference: core switch vs distribution switch vs access switch?

Core Switch Vs Distribution Switch

Core switch has the higher reliability, functionality and throughput than distribution switch. The former one aims at routing and forwarding, and provides optimized and reliable backbone transmission structure, while the latter one functions as the unified exit for access node, and may also do routing and forwarding. The distribution switch must has large enough capacity to process all traffic from the access devices. What’s more, there’s generally only one (or two for redundancy) core switch used in a small and midsize network, but multiple distribution switches in distribution or aggregation layer.

Core Switch Vs Access Switch

The lower levels the switch dwells in, the more devices it connects to. Therefore, a big gap of ports number exists in access switch and core switch. Most access switches need to connect various end user equipment ranging from IP phone, to PCs, cameras etc,. While the core switch may be just linked with several distribution switches. Meanwhile, the higher layer the switch lies in, the faster port speed it requires. Access switch is to core switch what river is to the ocean, as the latter one has the large throughput to receive the data packets from the former one. Most modern access switches come with a 10/100/1000Mbps copper ports. An example of this is FS S3910-24TS 24 port 100/1000BASE-T copper gigabit Ethernet switch. While core switches commonly have 10Gbps and 100Gbps fiber optic ports.

Distribution Switch Vs Access Switch

As access switch is the one that allows your devices to connect the network, it undoubtedly supports port security, VLANs, Fast Ethernet/Gigabit Ethernet and etc. Distribution switch which is mainly responsible for routing and policy-based network connectivity supports additional higher performance like packet filtering, QoS, and application gateways. All in all, access switch is usually a layer 2 switch and distribution switch is a layer 3 switch. When multiple access switches among different VLANs are required to be aggregated, a distribution switch can achieve inter-VLAN communication.

Conclusion

What’s the difference: core switch vs distribution switch vs access switch. To sum up, the access switch facilitates devices to the network. The distribution switch accepts traffic from all the access layer switches and supports more high-end features. And the core switch is responsible for routing and forwarding at the highest level. FS provides different types of Ethernet switches that can work as core switches, distribution switch or access switches. For more details, please visit www.fs.com.

Get Further Understanding of Ethernet Switch Port Types

Have you ever noticed the ports on your gigabit PoE switch or other network switches? They may come in different port types and work on different switch port modes. The switch ports number varies from different network switches and port type can be configured according to specific needs. Then how many ports on a switch? What are the common switch port types?

How Many Ports Does a Network Switch Have?

Generally, I’d like to assort the ports on the switch into the ones that enable others to work and the ones to realize its own operation. The former may be classified into different types of ports based on their port speeds as shown in the following diagram, and the latter is referred to the console port. Almost every switch has a console port used to connect to the computer and manage the switch as the switch has no display component.

Here takes FS gigabit switch, 10GB Ethernet switch and 40G/100G Ethernet switches as examples to show the switch port types and numbers that a network switch may have.

S3900-24T4S
10/100/1000BASE-T  Gigabit Switch
S5800-8TF12S
10GB Ethernet Switch
S5850-48T4Q
40GB Ethernet Switch
S5850-48S2Q4C
100GB Ethernet Switch
RJ45 port
24
8
48
/
SFP port
/
8
/
48
SFP+ port
4
12
/
/
QSFP+ port
/
/
4
2
QSFP28 port
/
/
/
4

As the above figure shows, a network switch may support diversified ports. The common port number of FS network switch is 8, 24 and 48. While the maximum number of ports in a switch can grow as demands.

Common Switch Port Types on Network Switches

When the data switch resides in a VLAN, there may be three common switch port types: access port, trunk port and hybrid port. An Ethernet interface can function as a trunk port, an access port or a hybrid port.

Switch Port Types: Access Port

Access port is used for connecting devices such as desktops, laptops, printers etc., only available in access link. A switch port in access modes belongs to one specific VLAN and sends and receives regular Ethernet frames in untagged form. Usually, an access port can only be member of one VLAN, namely the access VLAN, and it discards all frames that are not classified to the access VLAN.

Switch Port Types: Trunk Port

Trunk port is adopted among switches or between switch and upper-level devices, available in trunk link. A trunk port allows for several VLANs set up on the interface. As a result, it is able to carry traffic for numerous VLANs at the same time. Frames are marked with unique identifying tags—either 802.1Q tags or Interswitch Link (ISL) tags—when they move between switches through trunk ports. Therefore, every single frame can be directed to its designated VLAN. The trunk port is a VLAN aggregation port connected to other switch ports while the access port is the port that the switch connects to the host in the VLAN. The following picture shows their differences.

switch port types: trunk port vs. access port

Switch Port Types: Hybrid Port

Hybrid ports can be used to connect network devices, as well as user devices. It supports both untagged VLAN like access port and tagged VLAN like trunk port, and it can receive data from one or more VLANs. The hybrid ports resemble trunk ports in many ways, but they have additional port configuration features. Hybrid port can send some packets without tag to PC or IP phone, and others packets with tag to other device which can process tag.

Conclusion

Knowing the switch ports number can help you select the right switch for you. And figuring out the switch port types helps you configure your switch ports accordingly. This post introduces the three basic switch port types and their differences. Hope it will be helpful for you.

Network Switch Before or After Router?

Network switch and router are the commonly used devices in a network. With each carrying out its own duties accordingly, you can surf on the internet freely with your smart phone or computer. How to setup a network switch and router? Should the network switch be installed before router or after router is puzzling for many network newbies.

What Is Network Switch and Router?

To get clear about how to connect wireless router to switch, this part will state the function of network switch and router first. What is a switch in networking? A network switch is used to connect multiple devices such as computers, printers, IP camera and modem on the same network within a building. In this way, these devices can share information and communicate with each other.

What is a router in networking? A router is sometimes connected to a modem at one side and many other devices on the other side. Because the modem will only talk to the first computer that talks to it, the router at the position serves like a dispatcher to share the connection among all your devices. This enables all connected computers to share one single Internet connection.

Home network switch and router

Fig1. Home network diagram with switch and router

How to Setup a Network Switch and Router?

From the above introduction, we know that both the network switch and the router can be connected directly to a modem. However, when the two devices coexist, how to deploy them. Shall I connect modem to router to switch or modem to switch to router?

Modem to Router to Switch: Network Switch After Router

In most cases, you will see people put the modem first, followed by a router and then a gigabit Ethernet switch. The principle is that the modem gives the public IP address to the router, and the router assigns the private addresses to the devices connected to it, while the network switch doesn’t handle allocating IP addresses but serves as the extension of the limited ports on the router, to receive more devices. In this scenario, all your devices with private addresses are safe as they are not directly visible to the internet.

modem to router to network switch

Fig2. Modem router switch diagram

Modem to Switch to Router: Network Switch Before Router

Some people propose going from a cable modem to switch to wireless router. This seems good because all your devices on the network switch will have direct connections to your ISP. However, the truth is, your ISP does not offer multiple public IP addresses before the full transition from IPv4 to IPv6. So one or all ISP connections will likely fail and all of the devices connected to the switch would be exposed to the internet.

In a word, placing a modem to switch to router is not possible. At least not practically. Each port on the switch is a different IP address. So it doesn’t exist? Probably not unless your modem integrates the function of a router so that you can rewire and reconfigure the wireless router to set it up as access point. Seen from the outside, you indeed put a managed switch before router, however it still follows the principle that router goes before network switch.

Conclusion

Network switch before router or after router? Have you made it clear? This post has stated modem to router to switch vs modem to switch to router. Hope when you set up your network with router and switch, you can put them in the correct order according to your needs and the products themselves (the modem type). Here at FS.COM you can find various network switches including 10 gigabit switch, 40 gigabit switch and 100 gigabit switch, etc.

DWDM Vs. OTN: What’s the Difference?

As we slip further in the internet era, the internet boom pushed service providers to find a method to increase the capacity on their network in the most economical way. Therefore, two technology come into our sight: DWDM vs. OTN, the technologies that can expand existing bandwidth. To learn more about them and the difference between OTN and DWDM, this article may be of some help.

DWDM Vs. OTN: DWDM Basics

What is DWDM? DWDM stands for dense wavelength division multiplexing. It is a technology to send multiple strands of data through a single network link. In the transmitting end, there is an optical multiplexer converging two or more optical signals at different wavelengths. Whereas in the receiving end, an optical demultiplexer is used to separate the signals, and in this process it is unavoidable to cause signal loss which, however, can be mitigated by the optical amplifier. DWDM connections can therefore be used for transmitting data over long distances as it can increase bandwidth over existing fiber networks.

DWDM vs. OTN: DWDM Basics

DWDM Vs. OTN: OTN

OTN stands for optical transport network which provides a network-wide framework that adds SONET/SDH-like features like performance monitoring, fault detection, communication channels, and multiplexing hierarchy to WDM equipment. It works at Layer 1 to gather various tasks into the tunnel of WDM technology, increasing the transmission distance and capacity of fiber optics. It means that OTN frame structure combines the flexibility of SDH/SONET technology with the bandwidth expandability of DWDM, thus it can provide functionality of transport, multiplexing, routing, management, supervision, and survivability of optical channels carrying client signals.

The optical transport network is designed to deliver a transparent framework to efficiently carry diverse traffic types, which can decrease ACPEX/OPEX in networks and at the same time address dramatic shifts in traffic types. All in all, the charming of the OTN can be translated into two words: transparency and manageability.

Difference Between DWDM and OTN

DWDM is a point-to-point system while OTN, composed of optical cross-connector (OXC) and optical add/drop multiplexer (OADM), possesses functions like optical cross-ability and wavelength conversion. The OTN grows on the basis of DWDM technology with the aim of optimizing the existing resources of transportation network. In addition to providing large capacities of DWDM transmission, OTN permits the switching of different DWDM channels according to the needs of traffic.

In addition, as it has been proven that it is possible to tap a fiber optic cable and extract data streams, people have paid much more attention to data security over DWDM links. In contrast, OTN-channelized links and effective partitioning of traffic onto dedicated circuits bring a high level of privacy and security, preventing hackers who sneak in some section of the network from intercepting data or gaining access to other areas.

We can say that OTN network excels DWDM networks in its enhanced OAM, security and networking capabilities for wavelengths and standard multiplexing hierarchy and end-to-end optical transport transparency of customer traffic.

Conclusion

DWDM vs. OTN, the topic being addressed in this article, makes sense for those who want to better utilize them and is worthy of being explored further. Though there are indeed differences between OTN and DWDM, the two technologies are irreplaceable and have become the key point in the telecommunications infrastructure for regional networks as the allows bandwidth over existing networks. FS focuses on providing customers the best technical support, engineering cost effective and scalable solutions for metro and long-haul DWDM network. For more details, visit this website.

Server Rack Sizes: How to Choose a Right One?

A server rack is an equipment that holds all kinds of network devices ranging from switches, patch panel racks, to cable organizer and so on. Generally, the very first step in rack cable management is to get a container like 42U server rack to support all your devices. However, as there are so many server rack sizes on the market, how to get the one that is ideal for your application needs to be well thought of. Here we can offer some way out.

Common Server Rack Sizes

Based on different application requirements, different server rack sizes are produced. The three common types of server racks are open frame rack, rack enclosure and wall-mount rack.

Server Rack Sizes: Rack Enclosure

The rack enclosure, also known as server rack cabinet, usually comes in 40U,42U or 45U. It contains removable doors at both front and rear sides, removable side panels and adjustable vertical inside mounting rails, which provides an easy way to install and take out devices. The specially designed perforated door allows for smooth ventilation. Server rack cabinet may come in different height and depth. The height is usually represented by “U” and one U space equals to 1.75 inches. Whereas the depth refers to the distance between the front of the rack and the rear. FS.COM offers 9U server rack, 12U server rack, 42U server rack and 45U server rack. There may be server racks with 48u rack height on the market, which can accommodate as many as 24 2U devices.

server rack sizes, rack cabinet

Server Rack Sizes: Open Frame Rack

Open frame rack resembles rack enclosure in shape, but it is designed without doors or side panels. Just two or four bare rails are largely economical and leave easy access to cabling. And its common rack size is 45U. Ventilation is no longer a headache for expertise. However, it may expose all your applications to the external environment, resulting in bad appearance or even damage. Given this, open frame racks are optimal for network wiring closet and distribution frame applications that have high-density cabling.

server rack sizes, open frame rack

Server Rack Sizes: Wall-mount Rack

Wall-mount rack, the relatively small server rack fixed on the wall, is like a miniature rack enclosure. Usually, the wall-mount server rack sizes are 6U, 9U, 12U and 18U. As it doesn’t occupy the floor space as the former two, the wall-mount cabinet is spacing-saving which can be its selling point. It is suitable for your household use which does not include large and complicated equipment.

server rack sizes, wall-mount server rack

How to Choose from These Server Rack Sizes?

If you are not restricted by the space, you can choose from the rack enclosure and open frame server rack. Just calculate the required height and depth of your applications. For example, assume that you need to add 5 2U rack servers to your data center. A 12U server cabinet(21 inches) would be ideal, because 2 x 1.75 x 5 = 17.5 inches of space. The same is to the depth. Remember leaving some cabinet space for both the front and rear for future expansion and current rack cable management. Otherwise, a wall mount server rack is recommended as it is space-saving when you don’t have enough room for floor-standing cabinet. Check out the maximum weight it can hold.

Conclusion

Since the server rack is not flexible or scalable, we must plan carefully for the server rack sizes, and take into consideration the dimension and shape of server racks. As for the quality, rest assured that FS.COM offers sturdy cabinets with reasonable price. We are ready to provide you with the best solution.

Related article: Wall Mount vs Rack Mount Patch Panel