Company Updates

New Open Networking Options for HCI

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The Dell Networking business strategy continues to focus on delivering products that empower customer choice, flexibility and innovation at any scale. Our signature open networking switching products in the data center are the foundation for IT transformation with our enterprise, web and service provider customers worldwide.

Today, we continue to lead the industry with the announcement of our latest S4112-ON open networking switches that are purpose-built for hyper-converged and software-defined-storage data center environments.  At one-half the width of standard 1RU switches, these new S4112-ON switches help make efficient use of valuable chassis rack space while still providing high-performance top-of-rack switching within the chassis and fabric connectivity between chassis.

These new switches are available in both a S4112F-ON version for 10/25GbE fiber connections and a S4112T-ON version for 10BaseT connections.  There are also multi-rate 100GbE ports available on both offerings that help future-proof your data center for growing storage connectivity demands with each 100GbE port supporting 10/25/50/100GbE speeds.

Dell S4112T-ON switch with 12 x 10GbE ports and 3 x 100GbE ports
S4112T-ON switch with 12 x 10GbE ports and 3 x 100GbE ports
Dell S4112T-ON with 12 x 10GBaseT ports and 3 x 100GbE ports
S4112T-ON with 12 x 10GBaseT ports and 3 x 100GbE ports

S4112T-ON with 12 x 10GBaseT ports and 3 x 100GbE portsBoth versions of the S4112-ON support the Open Networking Install Environment (ONIE) which gives customers the choice of running Dell Networking OS10 software or approved 3rd party operating systems. The OS10 Enterprise Edition package provides complete layer 2 and layer 3 networking functionality but also allows customers to easily customize the software for different environments. A customer can integrate additional open source capabilities, add 3rd party Linux applications, or develop their own software using standard Linux and DevOps tools.

One ideal use case for these new switches would be in a hyper-converged fabric switch configuration running a virtual storage area network. Here either one or two S4112-ON switches (if redundancy is required) can be set up as switches in the storage front end fabric for Dell systems like VxRail, vSAN Ready Nodes or XC hyper-converged systems.

Another good use case for the S4112-ON would be as a high-performance, space-efficient iSCSI SAN switch in a rack providing 10GbE or 10BaseT top-of-rack switching for Dell SC-Series, Unity Series, MD-Series or EQL-Series storage platforms, with the ability to easily convert to 25GbE switching connections when needed.

Our mission at Dell Networking is to ensure our customers – regardless of size – derive the fullest value out of their networking investments. As such, we will continue to introduce proven end-to-end open networking solutions, comprehensive global services and a vision that sets the pace in a rapidly changing industry. Find out how we can help you and your network.

Learn more at www.Dell.com/Networking

Drew Schulke

About the Author: Drew Schulke

Drew Schulke is Vice President in Dell's Infrastructure Solution Group where he is responsible for product management of Dell's Primary Storage Portfolio (PowerMax, PowerStore, PowerFlex, PowerVault, Unity, VxBlock & VPLEX). Drew joined Dell in 1999, with previous roles in product development, operations, enterprise services, and seven years in Dell’s Data Center Solutions group where he was responsible for product management and product marketing for hyper-scale customers, and four years in Dell's Networking Business Unit, where he was responsible engineering and product management. Prior to joining Dell, Drew was a Senior Consultant in Accenture’s SAP practice focused on customers in the manufacturing segment. Drew holds a master’s degree from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University and a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Arizona.