ITWeb Data Centre Summit 2017
If you are a qualified end user in this market, your attendance is FREE. Register for the annual ITWeb Data Centre Confex now, as seats are limited. Avi Alkobi, Mellanox Technologies, plus many others will present at this forum on 25 July 2017. Watch this space for the updated agenda.
"The question facing many South African organisations when questioned about the data centre is often three-fold: do I stick with my legacy system; do I go with a hybrid system or do I take the leap and go straight to the cloud? I would suggest that they should even ask themselves do I even need my own data centre? Why can't I rent space on someone else's network and avoid all the headaches associated with sustainability; cost saving; energy saving; cooling; efficiency and uptime."
This the view of Avi Alkobi Ethernet Technical Marketing Sr Manager for EMEA, Mellanox Technologies, who is known for being a leading supplier of end-to-end Ethernet and InfiniBand intelligent interconnect solutions and services for servers, storage, and hyper-converged infrastructure.
He will be presenting at the upcoming ITWeb Data Centre Confex 2017, at the Focus Rooms, Sunninghill, on network infrastructure in the modern data centre - from building blocks to a solution, increased efficiency and reduced cost.
ITWeb Events: In your experience, is there any difference in the network infrastructure requirements for a legacy data centre compared to a modern data centre, and, if so, why is this the case?
Avi Alkobi [AA]: The modern data centre reveals new challenges, including the trade-offs between public, private and hybrid cloud, the need to reduce costs and increase agility as well as the need for higher bandwidth, improved security features and much more. Unfortunately the legacy network approach is unable to meet the demands placed on it by those of a modern data centre. I will provide insight, during the Data Centre Confex into the deployment, manageability and performance tools with networking products required for myriad software environments to fine-tune solutions to customer requirements.
ITWeb Events: Is it possible to deploy a high-end network and still maintain it, reducing overall cost to the business? If yes, how or why is this possible?
AA: A high-end network doesn't necessarily mean a high-cost network. Firstly, such high-end networks should be fully interoperable, backward compatible and futureproof - allowing simplified deployment and fewer associated costs. Next, and perhaps most importantly, is to adopt/replicate a Web-scale architecture with agile network speeds and automation tools. And, by employing a leaf spine topology you can invest as much (or as little) as needed and scale the growth of your network as and when required, with unique building blocks. Using these building blocks, an organisation can decide how to design its network to effectively address legacy interfaces whilst at the same time, configure and subsequently benefit from the advanced features and speeds available. This is the way to have both a high-end network while simultaneously reducing Capex and Opex.
ITWeb Events: Is it possible to deploy a high-end network and still maintain or improve overall efficiency of the business? If yes, how or why is this possible?
AA: Yes, high-end networks come with high-end management tools; automation is the best way to make network management more efficient. In addition running high performance networks reduces the task load. The most important point to note is that you can gain from the performance capabilities with a minimum overhead.
ITWeb Events: In your opinion, what are the benefits of an end-to-end network vendor?
AA: The benefits of an end-to-end network vendor include the fact that they provide the full support on the network infrastructure; a unique view on the purpose of each component in the network pipeline making the vendor not only a network device provider but also a provider of end-to-end network solutions.
ITWeb Events: Why is Mellanox Technologies involved in the upcoming Data Centre Confex?
AA: We find this conference very attractive; the quality of participants and the quality of vendors position this event as a significant one in the South African market. While we are happy to sponsor and share our ideas; our partners' and other delegates' involvement gives us an amazing opportunity to learn about the new trends in the region.
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