Data Center Networking Performance: New Apps Bring New Requirements

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With machine learning, big data, cloud, and networking functions virtualization (NFV) initiatives invading the data center, there are implications for data center networking performance.

Large cloud services providers such as Amazon, Google, Baidu, and Tencent have reinvented the way in which IT services can be delivered, with capabilities that go beyond scale in terms of sheer size to also include scale as it pertains to speed and agility. That’s put traditional carriers on notice: John Donovan, chief strategy officer and group president at AT&T technology and operations, for instance, said last year that AT&T wants to be the “most aggressive IT company in the world.” He noted that in a world where over-the-top (OTT) offerings have become commonplace, application and services development can no longer be defined by legacy processes.

“People that were suppliers are now competitors,” he said. “People that were competitors are now partners in areas such as open source development. The way the whole industry worked is changing. …”

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