Server-Class Ethernet Networking Bandwidth Deployments Have Doubled in the Past Two Years, Reports Crehan Research

25, 50 and 100 Gigabit Ethernet Drove Inflection in Market Growth

News provided by

Apr 21, 2020, 07:45 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, April 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Global deployments of server-class Ethernet networking bandwidth saw a significant increase over the past two years, according to a recent report from Crehan Research. The report shows that between the beginning of 2018 and the end of 2019, data center operators doubled their Ethernet server-class networking capacity. This recent strong increase helped drive the market to a longer-term annual average growth of 30 percent – see accompanying figure. Crehan's report further shows that the strong increase was a result of robust server-class Network Interface Card (NIC) port shipment growth, in conjunction with more bandwidth per port to handle increasingly demanding server and storage applications.

"Data center networking bandwidth deployments hit an inflection point with the arrival of 25, 50, and 100 gigabit Ethernet NICs and switches," said Seamus Crehan, president of Crehan Research. "These technologies delivered much lower cost per gigabit of bandwidth, further accelerating network speed upgrades."

The Crehan report also shows that customer adoption of newer Ethernet NIC speeds, especially 25 gigabit Ethernet, has been much faster than past adoption curves, with cloud service providers and early enterprise and telco adopters deploying about seven million of these connections in 2019, approximately three years after general market introduction.

"With the recent arrival of PAM-4 based server NICs, we expect another strong cloud service provider server-networking upgrade centering around 100 gigabit Ethernet to start sometime next year," Crehan said.

About Crehan Research Inc.
Crehan Research Inc. produces reports with very detailed statistics and information on the data center switch and server-class adapter & LOM/controller markets. The company's reports are supported with rich insights and context to deliver increased value. For more information about Crehan Research Inc. email [email protected], phone 650-273-8400, or visit www.CrehanResearch.com.

SOURCE Crehan Research Inc.