Advanced Computing in the Age of AI | Friday, March 29, 2024

Telecom Carriers Prefer Juniper, Cisco 

(Supphachai Salaeman/Shutterstock)

The quest for bigger network pipes need to transport big data is driving the market for Ethernet switching and other enterprise network equipment.

Industry tracker IHS Markit reported this week that a quartet of router and Ethernet switch manufacturers dominate the networking sector as enterprises deploy next generation edge and core routing technologies along with 100-gigabit/second Ethernet (GE) switches.

In a survey of network carriers, IHS identified Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR) as the current market leader, followed closely by Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) and Chinese networking giant Huawei (SHE: 002502). Juniper also ranked highest in terms of carriers' top priority: product reliability.

Cisco led the pack in terms of next generation switching technologies, ranking first among carriers for its 100 GE switches, followed by Juniper and Nokia (NYSE: NOK). Huawei scored highest among carriers based on price and performance.

"Juniper, Cisco, Huawei and Nokia excel at delivering on all the criteria operators consider to be most important," IHS analyst Michael Howard noted in a statement releasing the survey findings. "All four companies met operators' expectations in the carriers’ top vendor selection criteria, which are product reliability, price-to-performance ratio, service and support, technology innovation and security."

Along with 100 GE gear, other next-generation networking technologies identified by carriers include virtual routers and IP datacenter interconnects, the analyst said.

IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO) said Thursday (Jan. 11) its router and switch survey included 20 carriers that collectively account for one-third of global telecommunications capital expenditures and 27 percent of revenue. Other equipment vendors included in the networking survey included Brocade, Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC), Fujitsu (TYO: 6702), NEC Corp. (TYO: 6701) and China's ZTE (SHE: 000063).

Meanwhile, other switch manufacturers primarily targeting the HPC market are deploying 100 GE Linux kernel-based Ethernet switches. In November, Mellanox Technologies also introduced a high-data-rate 200 GE Infiniband switch designed to scale from up to 800 ports of 200 GE or 1,600 100 GE ports.

Other market analysts have noted that Infiniband and Ethernet remain the dominant protocols across system, storage and networking segments, with and Mellanox (NASDAQ: MLNX) and Cisco leading the supplier pack.

 

 

About the author: George Leopold

George Leopold has written about science and technology for more than 30 years, focusing on electronics and aerospace technology. He previously served as executive editor of Electronic Engineering Times. Leopold is the author of "Calculated Risk: The Supersonic Life and Times of Gus Grissom" (Purdue University Press, 2016).

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