Avnet Implements Brocades Ethernet Solutions

Solutions Distributor Designs Roadmap for the Cloud and Software-Defined Networking

To capture cloud-based growth opportunities and support its reseller network, Avnet Technology Solutions, the global IT solutions distributor and an operating group of Avnet has deployed Brocade Ethernet fabric at its two Australian data centers. The new network infrastructure, based on Brocade VDX® switches and VCS® Fabric technology, is a key building block in Avnet’s plan to fully virtualize and automate the data centers to support self-provisioning of cloud computing resources by its Australian resellers.

Avnet Technology Solutions collaborates with customers and suppliers to create and deliver services, software, and hardware solutions that address the business needs of their end-user customers. With Australia ranking among the leaders in Asia Pacific in terms of cloud service uptake, Avnet is providing its own reseller network with the opportunity to create revenue streams based on virtualized technology.

“Avnet has a central goal to fully automate our Australian data centers and enable comprehensive network virtualization. This will enable our channel partners’ networks to self-provision their virtual machine capabilities, further reducing the costs of offering a cloud solution and providing better return on investment on networking,” said Darren Adams, vice president and general manager, Avnet Technology Solutions, Australia and New Zealand.

“The data center network is one of the key factors in achieving our ambitions, and it was critical for us to choose a high-performance and highly automated infrastructure that could fully support the transition to cloud computing for our partners’ end-user customers,” Adams added.

To provide a strong foundation for its cloud data center operations, Avnet chose to implement an Ethernet fabric that, as a single large Ethernet domain, would deliver the agility and performance required to support virtualized data centers. Requirements included 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) server access ports, operating at wire speed and with very low port-to-port latency; self-configuration and self-management capabilities; and support for both VXLAN and NVGRE, two emerging Software-Defined Networking (SDN) protocols for virtual machine mobility.