November 19, 2007

So Google is building a 10GbE switch?

Today I ran across an article about Google building its own 10GbE switch:

http://gigaom.com/2007/11/18/google-making-its-own-10gig-switches/

It's no secret that Google has been building its own servers for their data centers for some time and is now one of AMD's top customers. It probably makes a lot of sense for Google to extend this to the network infrastructure and start building it's own 10GbE switches for server access. With as many servers as Google is installing, anything it can do to take cost out of its infrastructure and improve efficiencies in space and power will certainly help it scale.

Now server design is fairly straightforward and understood and most of the components have been commoditized. But can the same be said for network switches?

Cisco and other network equipment vendors have built up years of experience in network switch design and optimized the architecture for performance and reliability. With Google entering this space, there are several questions that could be asked.

Can Google hope to replicate this design expertise in just a few years?

If Google is succesful and building a low-cost, high-performance 10GbE switch, what effect will it have on the networking industry?

Should networking engineers start looking at Google for new and exciting opportunities in switch design?

What other technologies should Google look to invest in?

Will this buy vs. build argument sway other companies into considering this approach?

What is certain is that Google, because of its size and cash warchest, can move into any industry at will and potentially become a disruptive force to an incumbent player.

Posted by Deepak Munjal at 04:43 PM Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)