New DC architecture from Extreme

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Extreme Networks, Inc. announced its "Direct Attach" architecture for data centers, an architecture designed to bring virtual machine switching back into the network and out of the server.

Extreme Networks Direct AttachT data center architecture, as the company states,  is an evolutionary approach that allows virtual machines to be directly attached to the network without having to go through a full layer of software switching in the server. This approach to virtualized networks greatly simplifies management, monitoring and troubleshooting, while improving network performance in highly virtualized data center environments. "While embedded virtual switches have enabled early server virtualization projects they can limit performance and increase complexity," said Joe Skorupa, Research Vice President, data center and transformation and security, at Gartner, Inc. "Emerging technologies like direct I/O and VEPA allow VM to VM switching to be implemented in hardware in the first physical switch, increasing performance and simplifying management."

A press release adds that Extreme Networks Direct Attach architecture moves VM switching out of the server and into network switches, delivering wire-speed, network-based switching to VMs while dramatically reducing the number of managed switches through the elimination of the virtual switch layer. In addition, Extreme Networks Direct Attach architecture significantly simplifies management and troubleshooting by exposing inter-VM traffic to traditional, mature and well-understood networking tools, such as ACLs, firewalls and IDS. Extreme Networks Direct Attach architecture will interoperate with emerging IEEE 8021.Qbg, providing an easy and seamless migration path for organizations in addition to built-in investment protection. "Extreme Networks' Direct Attach architecture to virtual machine switching is a visionary step resulting in cost and performance benefits for the data center," said Shehzad Merchant, senior director of strategy for Extreme Networks.

"Organizations can now transition their data center from a physical to a virtual model without fear of being locked into any proprietary technology, realizing all the benefits of virtualization, and eliminating some of the most painful objections."