Alcatel-Lucent has announced its new data center switching solution blueprint for enterprises. This solution provides a complete data center switching fabric that extends the boundaries of the data center through virtualisation of the network with an innovative “mesh” architecture design.

This reduces costs and allows an enterprise to leverage its IT resources and optimise application delivery to employees across sites and devices.

Alcatel-Lucent’s data center switching solution delivers two architecture breakthroughs: the data center “mesh” and the “pod.” Virtualisation in the data center requires enterprises to optimize server-to-server traffic while striving to reduce costs. Alcatel-Lucent’s “pod” architecture addresses this need with the new OmniSwitch 6900 by delivering a highly dense solution that allows enterprises to directly connect top-of-rack switches without relying on a core switch to carry server-to-server traffic.

Providing the ability to connect data center pods together across multiple sites, Alcatel-Lucent’s “mesh” architecture delivers a complete switching fabric that can bring together more than 14,000 server 10Gig ports with only two core switches, delivering end-to-end latency of less than five microseconds and unmatched resiliency.

Alcatel-Lucent’s data center switching solution blueprint also features the virtual network profile (vNP), which captures application prioritization, switch provisioning, quality of service (QoS), and security requirements. The vNP ensures the network fluently understands and dynamically controls what is needed for application performance, including automating the movement of virtual machines within the fabric. Enterprises benefit from streamlined operations and reduced costs.