Supermicro demonstrates SDN solutions at Interop Las Vegas 2014

Supermicro announced their entry to the software defined network market at Interop Las Vegas 2014 this week by demonstrating its new SDN SuperSwitch and MicroBlade microserver solutions. The new 1U SDN switch platform is based on the Intel Open Network Platform using Intel switches and processors combined with Intel Open Network Software (ONS). The MicroBlade also incorporates Intel switch modules featuring SDN functionality and an Intel Atom C2000 control plane processor.

Leveraging Intel's technology, the new Supermicro SDN solutions offer flexibility, agility, security and dynamic manageability. According to Rose Schooler, vice president of Intel's Data Center Group and general manger of the Communications and Storage Infrastructure Group, "The new Supermicro SuperSwitch, developed from the Intel ONP Switch Reference Design, delivers a high performance, easy to deploy and cost effective network switch that offers management and control functionality."

While there are most likely cost benefits for enterprises that deploy SDN, it is this improved flexibility in management of the network that makes this technology so appealing. According to Charles Liang, President and CEO of Supermicro, the "new SDN enabled SuperSwitch and MicroBlade switches provides Data Center, Cloud and Enterprise environments the greatest flexibility to dynamically allocate networked resources as data demands shift." With datacenter workloads constantly shifting and blending, this ability to dynamically allocate network resources to hungry workloads is paramount.