The adoption of 40 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) in data centers is significantly accelerating, according to recent and upcoming reports from Crehan Research.
Crehan’s latest server-class adapter and LAN-on-motherboard report shows that 40GbE speeds on these products is already approaching a quarter-million port annual run-rate in 3Q14, and on track to increase four-fold, reaching a million port annual run-rate by 4Q14.
The reports show that Mellanox currently accounts for the majority of 40GbE server adapter shipments, while Cisco is the share leader in 40GbE data center switch port shipments.
“We were very bullish in our outlook for 40GbE data center networking growth in 2014, but results in certain segments of this market are already exceeding our forecast,” said Seamus Crehan, president of Crehan Research. “Data center networking traffic demands are so strong in some market verticals that these customers cannot wait to evaluate the upcoming 25GbE and 50GbE options. They need to go ahead and deploy speeds greater than 10GbE right now,” he said. “Furthermore, 40GbE is currently benefiting from a window of opportunity where it is a viable server connection as well as a viable data center aggregation and core networking option.”
With its prior data center switch report (2Q14), Crehan Research noted that low-priced switches had driven strong data center Ethernet growth. These lower prices are especially pronounced in 40GbE and are helping to drive the much stronger adoption of this technology.
