INDUSTRIAL ETHERNET SWITCHES 

Data center switches are designed to meet the unique high-performance, high reliability, and scalability requirements of data centers. Meanwhile, while regular switches perform well in small networks or home environments, their limitations become apparent when faced with data center-level challenges.

The comparison between data center switches and regular switches is not just about performance parameters but also significant differences in design philosophy, functional characteristics, and application scenarios. Data center switches typically offer advanced virtualization support, larger buffer capacity, more complex data forwarding mechanisms, and higher port density to accommodate the high-density computing and storage needs of data centers.

Today, let’s delve into the differences between data center switches and regular switches.

 Differences Between Data Center Switches and Regular Switches

01 Port Differences

Regular switches usually have 24-48 ports, with most ports being either Gigabit Ethernet or Fast Ethernet. Their primary function is to connect user data or aggregate data from access-layer switches. These switches can support basic functions like VLAN configuration, simple routing protocols, and basic SNMP, with relatively small backplane bandwidth.

Data center switches typically have many more ports, often numbering in the hundreds or even more. Their ports support much higher speeds, such as 10 Gigabit, 40 Gigabit, or even higher, like 100 Gigabit or more, to meet the high-density data transmission needs within data centers.

Data center switches are not only used to connect servers, storage devices, and other network infrastructure but also need to handle data streams from multiple aggregation-layer switches, ensuring efficient communication within the data center and with other networks.

These switches support advanced network protocols and features, such as advanced VLAN segmentation, comprehensive routing protocols (like BGP, OSPF), deep packet inspection (DPI), quality of service (QoS) policies, and robust security management functions.

Data center switches have very large backplane bandwidth, ensuring high-performance data forwarding capabilities even under heavy loads.

Connection or Access Network Differences

In a network, the part directly facing user connections or network access is called the access layer. The part between the access layer and the core layer is called the distribution layer or aggregation layer. The purpose of the access layer is to allow end-users to connect to the network, so access layer switches have low-cost and high-port density characteristics.

Aggregation layer switches are the convergence points for multiple access layer switches. They must be able to handle all traffic from access layer devices and provide upstream links to the core layer. Therefore, aggregation layer switches have higher performance, fewer interfaces, and higher switching rates.

The backbone part of the network is called the core layer. The main purpose of the core layer is to provide optimized, reliable backbone transmission structures through high-speed communication. Therefore, core layer switches have higher reliability, performance, and throughput.

2 Advantages of Data Center Switches

Compared to regular switches, data center switches need to possess the following characteristics: large buffer, high capacity, virtualization, FCOE, Layer 2 TRILL technology, scalability, and modular redundancy.

01 Large Buffer Technology

Data center switches have changed the traditional switch’s output port buffer method, adopting a distributed buffer architecture. Their buffer capacity is much larger than that of regular switches, reaching over 1G, while regular switches typically only reach 2-4M.

For each port, under full-speed 10 Gigabit conditions, data center switches can achieve a burst traffic buffer capacity of up to 200ms, ensuring zero packet loss during burst traffic. This is well-suited to the characteristics of data centers with large server quantities and burst traffic.

02 High-Capacity Devices

Data center network traffic has the characteristics of high-density application scheduling and surge-like burst buffering. Regular switches, designed to meet connectivity needs, cannot achieve precise business recognition and control. Under heavy business loads, they cannot respond quickly or ensure zero packet loss, compromising business continuity and system reliability.

Therefore, regular switches cannot meet the needs of data centers. Data center switches need to have high-capacity forwarding capabilities. They must support high-density 10 Gigabit cards, such as 48-port 10 Gigabit cards. To enable full forwarding of 48-port 10 Gigabit cards, data center switches must adopt a CLOS distributed switching architecture.

Additionally, with the普及 of 40G and 100G, support for 8-port 40G cards and 4-port 100G cards is gradually being commercialized. Data center switches with 40G and 100G cards have already entered the market, meeting the high-density application needs of data centers.

03 Virtualization Technology

Data center network devices need to have high manageability and high security and reliability. Therefore, data center switches also need to support virtualization. Virtualization transforms physical resources into logically manageable resources, breaking down barriers between physical structures. Network device virtualization includes technologies like multi-to-one and one-to-many.

Through virtualization technology, multiple network devices can be managed uniformly, and business on one device can be completely isolated. This can reduce data center management costs by 40% and increase IT utilization by about 25%.

04 TRILL Technology

In building Layer 2 networks, the original standard was the STP protocol. However, its inherent flaws, such as STP working by blocking ports, causing all redundant links not to forward data and wasting bandwidth, and STP having only one spanning tree across the entire network, requiring data packets to be forwarded through the root bridge, affecting the network’s forwarding efficiency, make it unsuitable for very large data centers.

TRILL was created to address these STP shortcomings and is designed for data center applications. TRILL protocol combines Layer 2 configuration and flexibility with Layer 3 convergence and scale effectively. It allows for full network loop-free forwarding without configuration. TRILL technology is a basic Layer 2 feature of data center switches, which regular switches do not have.

05 FCOE Technology

Traditional data centers often have a data network and a storage network. However, the convergence trend in new data center networks is becoming more apparent. FCOE technology makes network convergence possible. FCOE is the technology of encapsulating storage network data frames within Ethernet frames for forwarding.

Implementing this convergence technology must be done on data center switches, as regular switches generally do not have these capabilities.