The software-defined data centre: why, when and how?

17 Oct 2012

In a panel debate at IP EXPO 2012, executives from Fusion-io, Microsoft and Colt discussed how a new kind of IT architecture is emerging.

A new type of IT architecture is emerging, one that is increasingly referred to as the software-defined data centre, and at IP EXPO 2012, executives from three companies came together to discuss this trend. They were: David Flynn, CEO of flash storage specialist Fusion-io; Anthony Saxby, from Microsoft's information platform product group; and Javier Benitez, senior network architect at Colt Technology Services.

The software-defined network, the panellists agreed, mixes commodity hardware controlled centrally through an intelligent software layer. It will be a difficult journey and it's only just begun. "At Microsoft, we recognise the industry is on a significant change curve," said Anthony Saxby of Microsoft. "Looking at how people cope with that change will be critical. They are looking at a range of different things in evaluating their data centre strategies in order to make a seamless transition of services to new environments. Making the environment agile is a big part of that, as is helping people through that change."

The benefits of such an approach will be substantial, however, said David Flynn of Fusion-io: "Scaling is key and at the heart of all of this is improving how the data centre is run, allowing it not just to scale dynamically but also efficiently."

Other benefits mentioned were a reduction in capital expenditure on hardware. "Equipment is costly and complex," pointed out Javier Benitez of Colt. For Saxby of Microsoft, meanwhile, the cost of change is a big issue for companies: "Expansion is tough in closed, proprietary environments. Software-defined data centres make it much easier to expand. Being able to build a platform that  removes inhibitors to change is key and SDDCs are about implementing an easier way to deploy change."

Of course, for teams about to embark on this journey, there will be a number of technologies to consider. One is Flash storage, said Flynn, describing it as "an interesting opportunity to amortise the cost of the transition." People get stuck behind incremental improvements, he reasoned, but flash storage makes such a huge difference that it justifies the investment made in it.

Where does software come in? According to Saxby of Microsoft, it's about helping people and companies to exploit the data that they have, but which is currently stored across many, unintegrated silos. "Part of the software-defined data centre is about continuous service, by which I mean data as a continuous service, and about removing the barriers to seamless access to data wherever it is."

Benitez advice to companies that intend to forge ahead with software-defined computing is this: "Have a vision, be ambitious - but be realistic, too." Industry standards such as OpenFlow have a big role to play, but it is still early days.

There will naturally be some risk involved and perhaps some resistance to change. "Senior IT folk often get hit with the fear of the unknown. Fear is an element of change, but IT departments need to invest in people and be willing to take calculated risks, so that people can understand those changes, not fear the unknown. Only in that way can you accelerate the transition," said Saxby.

But the net effects of swallowing that fear, Flynn added. "With a software-defined data centre, an IT team can have a bigger impact and be more productive with less human toil. And this, in turn, drives innovation, as they can move beyond the step functions and work on bigger challenges that effect change."