Data centre equipment mkt recovers: Infonetics

BANGALORE, INDIA: Data centre (DC) Ethernet switches hit $3.2 billion in 2009, capped by a very strong fourth quarter, indicating a resurgence in data centre build-outs, along with the general recovery in network equipment sales.

This is according to Infonetics Research's fourth quarter (4Q09) edition of its new 'Data Center Network Equipment' market share and forecast report.

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“Cisco continues to dominate the overall data centre network equipment market, as few vendors can match the breadth of Cisco's product portfolio. But in each segment, Cisco encounters strong competitors that are focused on that segment, whether it's Juniper for data center Ethernet switches, F5 in ADCs, or Riverbed/Blue Coat for WAN optimization, and this ensures healthy competition and customer choice,” notes Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst, enterprise voice and data, Infonetics Research.

Data centre switches continue to account for the bulk of data centre network equipment revenue.

Purpose-built and blade switches are forecast to take increasing share of the data centre switch market, as these switches better address the requirements of the next generation data centre, including the move to blade server platforms, SAN convergence, and high performance.

Application delivery controller (ADC) sales increased 14 percent in 4Q09 from 3Q09.

The WAN optimization segment is faring better than other networking segments, with sales up for another quarter, to $256 million in 4Q09 (+seven percent).