The increasing use of virtualization is raising the number of nodes per port, which in turn raises the utilization per port. Server densities are increasing as with more compute power per rack unit increases. The potential to converge storage and data networking onto Ethernet and the increased use of iSCSI and file based storage over 10Gb pipes is putting much more traffic on Ethernet. Utilization goes up, so goes the need for more capacity. But the Next Gen data center network isn't just about speeds and feeds. It's also about agility.
Virtualization gives the ability to move workloads around a data center, add processing power to existing workloads much more quickly and perform much faster back-up and recovery of systems lower recovery point objectives. That comes at a price, and at some point, you have to pay the network. You will need bigger speeds and feeds, for sure, but you also need to think less about where you have spare network capacity and more about where you have process power. In other words, if you want to automate moves, adds and changes, you want to know that you will have adequate capacity wherever a workload lands. Multi-pathing becomes your friend that, among other things, has the potential to shift traffic load from north-south in a three-tier design to more east-west in a flattened design. Between agility and increased bandwidth, multi-pathing is destined for 10Gb links.
The 6500 is an aging switch line that can't support the increased demands, so trying to extend the life of the 6500 as a data center switch just doesn't make much sense from a product development standpoint. I know, you aren't going to go and make a radical change tomorrow. You might still have that 6500 for several years. In fact, at CiscoLive, John McCool Senior Vice President/General Manager, Data Center, Switching and Services Group, said that Cisco sees a market of some 70 million Gb Ethernet ports in the data center in the next few years because 10Gb is still not widely deployed on server motherboards. What will likely happen, he said, with the 6500, is that as port densities increase and more servers with 10Gb LAN on motherboards ship, the 6500 will move to a data center edge, WAN edge or campus router/switch role where there is less demand for high capacity port densities. Sounds like a nice retirement plan to me.
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