400GbE data center switch ports shipments to exceed 10 million this year

Shipments of 400 gigabit Ethernet (GbE) data center switch ports are on track to exceed 10 million this year, more than triple the prior year’s shipments, according to a report from Crehan Research.

In correlation with this strong 400GbE data center switch ramp, 50Gbps SerDes shipments are surpassing 25Gbps SerDes shipments, to become the mostly widely deployed data center switch SerDes lane speed.

400GbE data center switch transition is well under way

“The 400GbE data center switch transition is well under way, with volumes now starting to move toward the tens of millions in conjunction with broader customer adoption,” said Seamus Crehan, president of Crehan Research.

“Newer applications and architectures such as machine learning and disaggregated computing, on top of existing high-bandwidth drivers including video, machine-to-machine traffic and data analytics, are driving the need for faster switch speeds with better bandwidth economics.”

These results reflect the data center switch silicon transition from 3.2Tbps to 12.8Tbps and their respective underlying technologies of 25Gbps and 50Gbps SerDes. The report further points out that the 50Gbps SerDes transition time of approximately three years is faster than what the 25Gbps SerDes transition was.

“These large deployments of 12.8Tbps data center switches, with underlying 50Gbps SerDes technology, are laying the groundwork for the deployments of next-generation 25.6Tbps data center switches with 100Gbps SerDes technology, which we expect to start ramping next year,” Crehan said.