DC Interconnect

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Data Center Interconnect: New Re v enue Oppor tunities Data center operator segmentation clarifies sales pr ospects for CSPs, ON vendors, and OC suppliers Reference Code: TE008-001387 Publication Date: 20 Jan 2014 Autor: !an Red"at SUMMR! In a nuts"ell Data centers are the new central offices of today’s app-centric, content-rich, cloud-enabled age. Large-scale data centers have an attendant need for large-scale data center interconnect (DCI). ith tens of billions of dollars, euros, yen, and yuan invested in data centers, their central i!portance in application delivery will only grow. "he optical networ# ($%) co!!unity needs a deeper understanding of this growing networ# traffic driver as future $% growth beco!es !ore intertwined with data center growth. "rac#ing, classifying, and seg!enting data center types and understanding their preferred !ethod of interconnection, their underlying !otivation, and their position in the value chain is critical for players that hope to ta#e advantage of further DCI growth. "his report seg!ents the DCI opportunity based on data center operator (DC$) types, outlines the DCI food chain, and highlights DCI opportuniti es for co!!unic ations service providers (C&'s), $% vendors, and optical co!ponents ($C) vendors. Ovum view $vu! has seg!ented the DCI !ar#et into four categories of DC$s C&'s such as "*", China "eleco!, Colt, %"" Co!!unications, and +erion Internet content providers (IC's) such as !aon, aidu, oogle, and "encent carrier-neutral data center providers such as /0uini1, Inter1ion, and China %et Center enterprise-govern!ent-and-others such as al!art, 2' 3organ, and the 4& %ational &ecurity  gency . /ach type of DC$ has a different business !odel and !otivation for owning and operating data centers, a different set of networ# assets, and a different approach to DCI. Data Center Interconnect %ew 5evenue $pportunities ("/667-66897:) ;6 2an ;68< = $vu!. 4nauthoried reproduction prohibited 'age 8

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Data Center Interconnect: New

Revenue Opportunities

Data center operator segmentation clarifies sales prospects for

CSPs, ON vendors, and OC suppliers

Reference Code: TE008-001387

Publication Date: 20 Jan 2014

Autor: !an Red"at

SUMMR!

In a nuts"ell

Data centers are the new central offices of today’s app-centric, content-rich, cloud-enabled age.

Large-scale data centers have an attendant need for large-scale data center interconnect (DCI). ith

tens of billions of dollars, euros, yen, and yuan invested in data centers, their central i!portance in

application delivery will only grow. "he optical networ# ($%) co!!unity needs a deeper understanding

of this growing networ# traffic driver as future $% growth beco!es !ore intertwined with data center

growth. "rac#ing, classifying, and seg!enting data center types and understanding their preferred

!ethod of interconnection, their underlying !otivation, and their position in the value chain is critical for

players that hope to ta#e advantage of further DCI growth. "his report seg!ents the DCI opportunity

based on data center operator (DC$) types, outlines the DCI food chain, and highlights DCI

opportunities for co!!unications service providers (C&'s), $% vendors, and optical co!ponents ($C)

vendors.

Ovum view

$vu! has seg!ented the DCI !ar#et into four categories of DC$s

• C&'s such as "*", China "eleco!, Colt, %"" Co!!unications, and +erion

• Internet content providers (IC's) such as !aon, aidu, oogle, and "encent

• carrier-neutral data center providers such as /0uini1, Inter1ion, and China %et Center

• enterprise-govern!ent-and-others such as al!art, 2' 3organ, and the 4& %ational &ecurity

 gency.

/ach type of DC$ has a different business !odel and !otivation for owning and operating data

centers, a different set of networ# assets, and a different approach to DCI.

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Data center interconnect can occur in three basic ways a C&' can use its own networ#, bandwidth can

be leased fro! another C&', or a dedicated networ# can be built upon procured dar# fiber. 3any data

center operators use so!e co!bination of these three interconnect options.

C&'s have an opportunity to sell high-bandwidth services into the DCI !ar#et. "hey can sell directly to

other C&'s operating data centers, the IC's, the carrier neutrals, and

enterprise-govern!ent-and-others.

>or the $% vendors, the DCI !ar#et represents an incre!ental growth opportunity. "he C&'s, the

vendors? largest pre-e1isting !ar#et, will continue to be a target !ar#et with added growth driven by

DCI. "he new greenfield opportunity is all of the non-traditional DCI providers the IC's, carrier

neutrals, and enterprise-govern!ent-and-others. $rganiations that have procured dar# fiber for DCI

and are turning up their own private networ#s re0uire optical networ# co!!on e0uip!ent, line cards,

and networ# building #now-how. >or the $% syste! vendors, the data center interconnect opportunity

consists of access, !etro, regional, national, and international networ# seg!ents.

"he $C co!panies have opportunity to sell into the DCI food chain to the syste! vendors and have a

truly global opportunity, unfettered by regional preferences for regional vendors.

"he DCI !ar#et is in a dyna!ic state. &o!e DCI opportunities have been sewn up, but new

opportunities continue to arise. DC$s are loo#ing to drive cost out, and !any would consider a switch

to a !ore innovative or lower- cost solution. C&'s and vendors ali#e need to be !ore syste!atic in

uncovering DCI prospects and 0uic#er to hone in on the 0uality opportunities.

#e$ messages

• Data centers continue to be steadily co!!issioned. &o!e data center builds are well

publicied, while others have a low public profile for security or co!petitive intelligence

reasons.

• e e1pect large-scale data center growth in China consistent with the rapid networ# e1pansion

we see in China.

• /nterprises are ta#ing advantage of i!proved data center site diversity and are also adopting

cloud services, fueling additional DCI growth.

• DC consolidation creates new traffic patterns for further DCI and $% opportunities.

• 3any e!erging !ar#ets are not yet served or underserved.

Data centers have been co!!issioned in areas that previously did not have a significantteleco! presence, resulting in new bandwidth traffic patterns.

Recommendations for CSPs, ON vendors, and OC vendors

• Develop a syste!atic approach to trac#ing data center building initiatives. e diligent about

scoping out both high- and low-profile DCI opportunities. ithout an organied effort to

anticipate DC and DCI growth, industry players will find the!selves in a reactionary position,

following as opposed to leading the !ar#et.

• >or C&'s, trac# China data center builds to predict future growth opportunities in international

traffic e!anating fro! China and those data centers.

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• >or non-China vendors, trac# your custo!ers? initiatives in China to foresee e0uip!ent

opportunities inside the region.

• >or C&'s, counter the dar# fiber threat with a value proposition of ubi0uity and enhanced

networ# diversity.• 'ay attention to DCI opportunities ste!!ing fro! DC location changes due to site diversity and

data center consolidation initiatives.

• Loo# for DCI opportunities in e!erging !ar#ets.

• >or $C vendors, build your DCI food chain I@ to vet your custo!ers? views.

%&'( D) C*N)*R IN)*RCONN*C) OPPOR)UNI)I*S

+ig"l$ dependent on $our frame of reference

"he data center opportunity !eans !any different things to different constituencies. It can !ean sellingoptical networ# e0uip!ent, adaptive trans!ission, a ne1t-generation control plane, routers,

co!ponents, servers, services, software, diesel fuel, and even concrete.

>ocusing on the data center interconnect opportunity does help scope the proble! state!ent down

further for the teleco! co!!unity. >or the C&'s, the DCI opportunity !eans selling !ore high-capacity

!etro, national, and international bandwidth services to clients. >or the optical networ# syste!s

vendors, the DCI opportunity !eans the ability to sell !ore optical co!!on e0uip!ent and line cards to

players in the data center food chain. nd co!ponents co!panies can sell to their traditional syste!

vendor clients and non-traditional DC$s. "his report focuses on the DCI opportunity for all three of

these constituencies.

)+* DCI OPPOR)UNI)! OR CSPS

Data center interconnection can occur in three basic ways using intra-co!pany co!!on carrier

networ# infrastructure, leasing bandwidth fro! a C&', or using one?s own optical networ# over procured

dar# fiber. 3any data center operators use so!e co!bination of the above. "he C&'s have a global

opportunity to sell leased bandwidth into each DC$ seg!ent. /ach DC$ seg!ent has a different

approach to DCI based on their own networ# assets and appetite for a C&'?s leased bandwidth

services.

CSP DCOs

"he C&'s? own co!!on carriage networ#s have a history in networ# design, building, and operation.

3any C&'s such as "*", ", China "eleco!, China 4nico!, Colt, CenturyLin#-&avvis, "&, %""

Co!!unications, "C&, "elefonica, "-&yste!s, and +erion-"erre!ar# own and operate data centers in

addition to large-scale networ#s.

>or DCI, the C&'s will use their own networ#s to the e1tent possible, but in so!e instances they will

need third-party bandwidth to interconnect their data centers for diversity or for out-of-territory

operation.

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Internet content provider DCOs

Internet content providers originate fro! a different lineage than the C&'s. "hey approach the !ar#et

fro! a content-first perspective and do not have a long history of operating networ#s. "hey have begun

to build networ#s for internal purposes rather than as co!!on carriers. Large-scale Internet content

providers such as !aon, pple, aidu, >aceboo#, oogle, 3icrosoft, and "encent have built so!e of 

the largest data centers worldwide. "hey do not have deep teleco! roots, but they do have a strong

trac# record for innovation and an eye for cost reduction and are operating their own networ#s to so!e

e1tent.

oogle, via dar# fiber, has built its own 4& long-haul networ#. oogle also is a partner in the 4nity

cable consortiu! connecting Los ngeles with "o#yo. Leased bandwidth will continue to be needed to

connect all of oogle?s sites because dar# fiber is not available everywhere. In general, Internet content

providers? ongoing data center construction is li#ely to outpace their ability to procure dar# fiber. Leased

bandwidth !ay be the best econo!ic option for s!aller data center sites. 5oute diversity needs !ay be

another catalyst for leased bandwidth the 4nity cable, for e1a!ple, is a point-to-point lin#, not a !esh,

and vulnerable to a point disruption.

Carrier-neutral DCOs

Carrier-neutral data center operators such as China %et Center, Digital 5ealty "rust, /0uini1, Inter1ion,

"elecity, and "elehouse represent a third and yet different seg!ent for the high-bandwidth DCI !ar#et.

"he carrier neutrals funda!entally provide secure space, power and the ability to interconnect to their

C&', Internet e1change provider, cloud service provider, content provider, and enterprise custo!ers.

"he carrier neutrals are not inherently in the business of supplying % bandwidth, but bandwidth

co!es into their data centers at terabit scale to interconnect via their custo!er base. &o!e of the

carrier neutrals? custo!ers will bring their own fiber into the carrier neutrals whereas others will rely on

leased bandwidth. In either case, the bandwidth-buying entity is the data center tenant as opposed to

the DC$. ut the carrier neutrals are an i!portant group to trac# as they represent an aggregation point

of bandwidth. "hey have been very active data center builders, with !uch of the newest capacity being

constructed in lower-cost suburban areas, catalying new traffic patterns and representing new leased

bandwidth opportunities.

*nterprise, government, and ot"er DCOs

"he fourth category of data center operator is enterprise-govern!ent-and-others. "hese organiations

do have internal data center needs and re0uire DCI for internal purposes but are not large-scale

co!!on carriers. 3any DC$s fall into our enterprise-govern!ent-and-others category including

• financial fir!s %A&/, %asda0, old!an &achs, 2' 3organ

• govern!ent entities the 4& %ational &ecurity gency, Depart!ent of /nergy

• &yste! integratorsBI" vendors >uitsu, ', I3, and Logicalis

• non-financial enterprises and others al!art, Canadian "ire, '.

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"ypically, enterprise-govern!ent-and-others will use leased bandwidth fro! C&'s for DCI. "here will be

so!e utiliation of dar# fiber networ#s, but typically at a !ore !odest scale.

Summari.ing t"e CSP opportunit$ for leased /andwidt" for DCI

"o su!!arie, C&'s will have an opportunity to sell leased bandwidth to other C&'s to a li!ited e1tent

as well as to the IC's, carrier neutrals, and enterprise-govern!ent-and-others. >or the C&'s, the !aor 

co!petitive threat in the DCI !ar#et is the rise of the do-it-yourself dar# fiberEenabled networ#s. Dar#

fiber is not ubi0uitous, but when it is available the price-perfor!ance proposition is co!pelling and

!ar#et-disruptive. C&'s can co!pete with dar# fiber offerings in a head-to-head !anner at their peril.

better option is to bundle together a larger offering e!phasiing networ# ubi0uity, greater reach, and

enhanced networ# diversity.

)+* DCI OPPOR)UNI)! OR ON S!S)*M 0*NDORS

Opportunities /$ DCI provider segments

CSPs

"he wholesale business units of the !aor C&'s are in the business of selling capacity to other carriers

and large-scale players. enerally, the !aor C&'s have the densest networ#s in their regions of

operation. "hey will typically be well placed to !eet !ore co!ple1 data center interconnect

configurations.

C&'s will typically be operating !ulti-service networ#sF DCI would be but one service on those!ulti-service networ#s. $pportunities would not li#ely be open to new vendors based solely on a new

data center being co!!issioned. 5ather, vendors have large-scale opportunities based on standard

networ# bids for portions of the C&'s? !ulti-service optical networ#s. Incu!bent $% vendors in these

networ#s are best placed to capture incre!ental networ# e1tension business due to data center

e1pansion. non-incu!bent vendor will need to bring a !ore disruptive offer, such as !ore functional

integration opti!ied for data center applications, in order to warrant consideration at a new account.

 lternative C&'s such as Gayo and 5ogers Co!!unications typically do not have the networ# density

of the incu!bents, but they do have a long history of targeting and building out to high-value teleco!

sites, and they represent a strong opportunity for $% vendors. 3any alternative C&'s have

co!!issioned purpose-built networ#s to reach the #ey data center sites. 3any of these networ#s have

been opti!ied for shortest path and low latency, aiding their success. "he financial co!!unity has had

a long-standing desire for latency-opti!ied networ#s, and in !any cases the alternative C&'s have

supplied their high-bandwidth DCI.

"he $% vendor opportunity in this seg!ent is to win the position of being a pri!ary standing vendor

and to be highly responsive to the incre!ental opportunities generated directly by further data center

e1pansions, especially at C&'s with !ultiple active vendors. +endors could ta#e a further step and

wor# with C&' clients to uncover incre!ental DCI opportunities as they develop.

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Internet content providers

"he large-scale Internet content providers have built up global networ#s co!prised of lit services and

dar# fiber bandwidth. "hey will continue to add density and reach to their networ#s. $ptical vendorshave had success in selling DCI directly to IC's, and cost-scale pressures will continue to !otivate

deploy!ents. "he vendor opportunity is to continue to wor# with this !ar#et seg!ent and aid in ways to

help further IC's? ai!s. n e1tra step a vendor could ta#e would be uncovering additional available

dar# fiber that could be utilied to interconnect e1isting data centers or future data centers. "he

!ar#et-leading IC's have been the !ost aggressive at networ# building. +endors should also trac# the

ne1t echelon of IC's for new DCI opportunities based on future data center builds.

Carrier-neutral data center operators

"he carrier neutrals? pri!ary function is to facilitate interconnection. In that conte1t, the tenants of the

carrier-neutral data centers would be sales prospects for $% vendors. ut there is a further nuance in

the carrier neutrals? case. "he carrier-neutral operators wal# a fine line in their approach to %

bandwidth supply. funda!ental tenet of their value proposition is their neutralityF if a carrier-neutral

operator beca!e a large-scale carrier, it would no longer be neutral E other carriers would begin to view

it as a direct co!petitor.

$n the other hand, $% vendors !ay find an opportunity to serve carrier-neutral operators in large !etro

areas, where li!ited real estate and building space have forced a nu!ber of the! to evolve into

!ulti-site operations E they still need to be able to interconnect their custo!er base across those sites.

"he carrier neutrals can interconnect their sites together via dar# fiber. custo!er can enter one site

and effectively have access to all of the carrier neutral?s !etro sites. It is not a C&' operation in thelarge-scale sense, but it uses optical networ# e0uip!ent to interconnect data centers.

Digital 5ealty "rust in partnership with /psilon co!!issioned a London-area data center interconnect

networ#. "he networ# nodes are the data centers the!selves. "he vendor opportunity is to aid further

e1pansion efforts by the carrier neutrals. dditionally, after the !ar#et leaders, there is a very long tail of 

!ar#et players offering co-location and interconnect. $f this group, so!e will co!!ission optical

networ#s for !ulti-site interconnect.

*nterprise-government-and-ot"ers

Large-scale, tech-savvy enterprises have used dar# fiber and optical e0uip!ent for !any years. %A&/has been a long-standing and vocal proponent of dar# fiber. Content distribution networ#s have the

need for very-high-capacity networ# connectivity. In so!e cases in so!e !etros, their e0uip!ent has

outgrown the space available in one building, necessitating a !ulti-site networ#. #a!ai built a

large-scale !etro networ# in London interconnecting their !ultiple data center sites.

"he challenge for vendors targeting the enterprise-govern!ent-and-others seg!ent is uncovering the

high- and low-profile opportunities and vetting the! to identify the high-value opportunities.

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Dar1 fi/er providers

"he dar# fiber providers the!selves should be considered an $% vendor opportunity. "he line between

alternative C&' and dar# fiber provider can blur. lternative C&'s start with a lit bandwidth propositionto the !ar#et, but they can sell dar# fiber in certain circu!stances. C&'s !ay !a#e dar# fiber available

for a li!ited ti!e period to 0uic#ly recoup a portion of initial fiber build construction costs. Dar# fiber

providers can begin by selling dar# fiber e1clusively but then graduate to lit services in ti!e based upon

custo!er re0uests.

It is no coincidence that two of the globe’s !ost vigorous data center !ar#ets, London and %ew

Aor#E%ew 2ersey, are also ho!e to the !ost dyna!ic dar# fiber !ar#ets. 'ure-play dar# fiber providers

only e1ist in very select group of !ar#ets. Data center operators with large-scale interconnect needs

prefer the dar# fiber !odel where it does e1ist due to its co!pelling low-cost structure. If the dar# fiber

!ar#et is active, the data center !ar#et will leverage that low-cost input.

Dar# fiber providers have been building so!e of the !ost innovative networ#s of late. "he classic

incu!bent C&' networ# has been built in layers over the years starting with the needs of the voice

networ#. Large-scale suburban data centers did not e1ist at that ti!e. Dar# fiber providers with prior

#nowledge of the !aor data center sites have designed their fiber networ#s to interconnect as directly

as possible. purpose-built design can provide benefits such as shortest pathElowest latency, fewer

splices-connectors for reduced points of failure, and i!proved signal perfor!ance.

'roviders of dar# fiber !ay sell fiber only to their custo!er base, but they can also be a channel for the

$% vendors. "heir custo!ers will be a !i1 of enterprises and other C&'s. "hus, for the $% e0uip!ent

vendors, a portion of the dar# fiber providers? custo!er list would be potential e0uip!ent custo!ers as

well. If they transitioned to selling lit services, they would beco!e direct $% e0uip!ent purchasers.

DCI opportunit$ for t"e ON s$stem vendors /$ geograp"$

>or $% syste! vendors, the DCI opportunity can also be seg!ented by geography. >or a newly

co!!issioned DC site, the opportunity !ay be a !odest fiber e1tension spur E a fiber e1tending fro!

the original trun# fiber into the data center pre!ise.

eyond networ# spurs, networ#s can be e1tended to !etro or regional distances. "he Digital 5ealty

"rustE/psilon !etro London networ# was for a new !etro networ#. Level 9 e1tended its long-haul

networ# by ;66 !iles in central ashington &tate to interconnect five custo!er data center sites.

Interconnecting the >aceboo# Lulea, &weden site involved co!!issioning a national-international

networ#. "he bac#bone of the 4& oogle networ# is a large-scale optical networ#. 'CC’s

!ulti-service, !ulti-custo!er networ# upgrade connecting ong Jong, "aiwan, &outh Jorea, and 2apan

was !otivated in part by international data center interconnect. oogle, a 4nity cable partner,

co!!issioned a "rans-'acific lin# to interconnect its sia-'acific and 4& data center sites.

Summari.ing t"e ON s$stem vendor opportunit$ for DCI

>or the $% vendors, their traditional custo!er base, the C&'s, will be a #ey opportunity. "heir

custo!ers? priorities will have changed to adust to the new DCI opportunity, and the vendors need to

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stay attuned to their custo!ers? needs and future directions. "he $% vendors also have an opportunity

to sell to the organiations that have procured dar# fiber and have the a!bition to own and operate

networ#s the IC's, carrier neutrals, and enterprise-govern!ent-and-other DC$s. "he larger-scale

IC's and carrier neutrals are well-#nown entities, but s!aller-scale players !ay arise to e!ulate the!ar#et leaders, e1panding the opportunity. "here will be a sub-seg!ent within the

enterprise-govern!ent-others seg!ent that does represent a serious $% opportunity.

)+* DCI OPPOR)UNI)! OR OC 0*NDORS

>or optical co!ponents co!panies, the % data center interconnect !ar#et represents an ongoing

opportunity. >or the $C vendors, as ever, it is critical to stay on top of technology shifts. "he overall DCI

!ar#et will continue to shift fro! 86 to 866 and beyond in ti!e. >or co!ponents vendors, the

transition fro! 86 to 866 will be both an opportunity and a threat.

866 adoption is !ost widespread in the long-haul bac#bone portion of the networ#.866 deploy!entsinto subsea lin#s are in their infancy. "he ;68<E8H ti!e fra!e will see the !ove to lower-cost,

denser-for!-factor solutions for 866 in the !etro seg!ent, and lower-cost 866 solutions will aid the

DCI transition fro! 86 to 866 wavelengths.

MR#*) )RC#IN2 )O UNCO0*R %&'( OPPOR)UNI)I*S

Continue trac1ing DC /uilding initiatives

"his report will not !a#e a call on whether oogle, pple, !aon, or 3icrosoft will co!!ission yet

another billion-dollar data center in %orth !erica, /urope, or China. ut if and when that happens, itwill create another !ulti-terabit source and sin# point of networ# traffic. nother intriguing possibility

would be if !ore co!panies and industry sectors adopt the terabit-scale !odel and begin to build !ore

terabit-scale data centers as well. Data center interconnect is no longer at the gigabit level, it is now at

the terabit level.

Large-scale data centers do ta#e years to co!plete, and we already see precursors of activity such as

site scouting, evaluation co!!ittees, land purchases, and building per!it applications. "he earlier a

C&' is plugged into the process, the better placed that C&' is to beco!ing the first-in leading provider

as opposed to the third, fourth, or fifth C&' entering that data center site. &i!ilarly, syste! vendors

need to stay abreast of developing opportunities to be in a position to beco!e the lead vendor. lso,

!any carrier neutrals, IC's, and others do not have lengthy KC&'-styleK vendor evaluation processes,

presenting a faster !oving, !ore dyna!ic !ar#et opportunity.

3estern CSPs and vendors can pla$ in t"e C"ina data center food c"ain

"he world witnessed the rapid creation of the enor!ous China co!!unications !ar#et over the past

five years, and data centers are an increasingly i!portant asset. China’s do!estic operators and

vendors are of course in the driver’s seat for data center building within China. China "eleco! has been

building data centers at ho!e and abroad, and uawei has built over ;66 data centers.

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ut western C&'s and vendors can find opportunity in this high-growth !ar#et as well. >or e1a!ple,

non-do!estic providers and enterprises have been building data centers within China. ong Jong is

the !ost open to western DC$s, with a very advanced data center !ar#et and a !ultitude of western

DC$s in action. %"" Co!!unications has data centers in eiing, &hanghai, u1i, uanghou, andong Jong. 'ac%et has data centers in eiing, &hanghai, &henhen, Chong0ing, and "ianin. I3 has

DCs in u1i, Langfang, and &henhen. 3icrosoft has deployed cloud services utiliing ;8+ia%et’s data

center base, and !aon is entering the Chinese !ar#et as well. Data centers re0uire do!estic and

international connectivity. "he western C&'s can co!pete for the international DCI e!anating fro!

China. "he western syste! vendors? best opportunity is to follow their custo!er base into their new

data center initiatives.

"he co!ponents vendors !ay have the freest hand in the China !ar#et as they are #ey suppliers to

both the Chinese and western $% vendors.

Doing business in China is not easy for non-native co!panies, typically re0uiring a partnership with ado!estic vendor, but to forgo China is to forgo a significant growth opportunity.

Site diversit$ is growing in importance

In the wa#e of a nu!ber unfortunate circu!stances and natural disasters around the globe (e.g.

urricane &andy in %ew Aor#, severe rainfall and flooding in "oronto), enterprises are beco!ing !ore

acutely aware of the vulnerability of !aintaining business-critical infor!ation in a li!ited geographical

area. >or businesses, !aintaining a bac#up capability beyond i!!ediate city geography affords an

enhanced level of business continuity. I3’s new arrie, $ntario, facility located appro1i!ately 866#!

fro! downtown "oronto typifies the trend, resulting in new "oronto-to-arrie DCI traffic.

Data center consolidation is a growing opportunit$

Data center interconnect opportunities !ay co!e in the guise of data center consolidation. 3any

co!panies and govern!ents have a large nu!ber of s!aller-sied and older-generation data centers.

"o reap the benefit of greater cost savings, these organiations are considering consolidating their data

center capacity into a s!aller nu!ber of newer, larger-scale, cost-effective data centers. "he

consolidation activity is an $% opportunity, as this re0uires new large-scale interconnects to new sites

that are further afield.

Data center /uilding will continue in emerging mar1ets

oogle co!!issioned a data center in &antiago, Chile, a solid indicator that the data center

pheno!enon will in ti!e sweep into all !ar#ets worldwide. In India, operators are pressed to deliver a

large volu!e of content that originates outside the country, highlighting the need for local data centers.

Data centers in e!erging !ar#ets will continue to sprout based on the strength of the general econo!ic

food chain, the level of technology adoption, and data center operators? ris#-reward calculations.

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DCI will c"ange ON traffic patterns and ultimatel$ ON designs

"he industry has not felt the full i!pact of the traffic change co!ing fro! terabit data centers. "he

billion-dollar data centers are at the beginning of their life cycle with bandwidth ust beginning to ra!p.

In addition to terabit scale, !any data centers have been situated in new, Kteleco!-re!oteK locations,

creating new source and sin# points on networ#s.

ith the traffic e0uivalency of a city, terabit-scale DCs will change networ#s. Internet traffic historically

headed for the !aor Internet content sites in &ilicon +alley. sia-'acific traffic arrived at landing point

on the 4& est Coast and then was bac#hauled to the ay rea. %ow, traffic needs to transit further

inland to ashington and $regon to reach !aon, >aceboo#, oogle, and 3icrosoft sites. "his traffic

did not e1ist a few years ago. &i!ilarly, the pple data center in rural %orth Carolina will add a

significant traffic load to an area once nearly bereft of traffic.

/1isting data centers will see traffic growth based on enterprise and residential service adoption. %ewdata centers will continue to be added. "he DCI opportunity will continue to grow, and responsive C&'s

and vendors will have an opportunity to capitalie on this !ar#et.

PP*NDI4

Met"odolog$

"he analysis in this report is derived fro! pri!ary research in the for! of discussions with service

providers, data center operators, and e0uip!ent vendors. &econdary research included trac#ing press

releases, public announce!ents, conference presentations, and other publications.

urt"er reading

2014 Trends to Watch: Data Center Networking Hardware, "/669-666H; (%ove!ber ;689)

2014 Trends to Watch: Enterprise Data Centers, I"68-669;78 (%ove!ber ;689)

ON Forecast eport: 2012!1", "/667-66896 ($ctober ;689)

2014 Trends to Watch: Data Center Techno#og$, I"68:-66<8:H (&epte!ber ;689)

Data Center %endor &andscape: Network 'onitoring (witches, "/669-666H:9 (&epte!ber ;689)

C#o)d (er*ices +)siness Trends ()r*e$ 201: E)ropean es)#ts, /I6;;-66666< (ugust ;689)

Kig Data is a #ey part of Intel’s data center vision,K I"68<-66;::< (ugust ;689)

Data Centers: De-$ing .ra*it$, "/667-668;<6 (&epte!ber ;68;)

ut"or 

Ian 5edpath, 'rincipal nalyst, %etwor# Infrastructure

ian.redpathMovu!.co!

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Ovum Consulting

e hope that this analysis will help you !a#e infor!ed and i!aginative business decisions. If you have

further re0uire!ents, $vu!’s consulting tea! !ay be able to help you. >or !ore infor!ation about

$vu!’s consulting capabilities, please contact us directly at consultingMovu!.co!.

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"he facts of this report are believed to be correct at the ti!e of publication but cannot be guaranteed.'lease note that the findings, conclusions, and reco!!endations that $vu! delivers will be based on

infor!ation gathered in good faith fro! both pri!ary and secondary sources, whose accuracy we are

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