The further adoption of cloud computing, advancements in IoT technologies, big data, AI and the deployment of 5G is accelerating the demand for cloud services. As the demand grows, so too does the need for Data Center infrastructure to house and transport the data. The efficiencies and sustainability of data centers has come into sharp focus as businesses and governments attempt to tackle the looming climate crisis. One possible solution has emerged - P4 programmable switches.
P4 switching is open networking extended all the way down to the switch ASIC level, and while it will not solve all data center’s problems, when properly used will provide increased resource efficiencies to better handle the data, greater visibility and monitoring of traffic to screen and block attacks at the network edge, and enhance congestion control. All of this without significantly sacrificing on performance, or increasing the need for power, or adding to costs.
Leading the charge in P4 switching is Edgecore Networks, and we had the opportunity to sit down with Nanda Ravindran, their VP of Product Management to ask what is P4 Switching, and what are the real benefits for hyperscale data centers?
Following on from their previous discussion on 5G Disaggregation, Barry McGinley, sat down with Edgecore Network's VP of Product Management, Nanda Ravindran, to discuss P4 Switching, and what the benefits are for hyperscale data centers.