Bare metal switches set for channel invasion

Nascent bare metal switch market launched by Dell two years ago is now ripe for the enterprise channel, according to analyst IHS Markit

Although hype may have "overshadowed reality" since the creation of the so-called bare metal switching market two years ago, global sales are heading for a fourfold increase this year, CRN sister publication Channelnomics Europe has reported.

That is the conclusion of a report authored by Cliff Grossner, senior research director for datacentre, cloud, and SDN at analyst IHS Markit. The research also predicts that the next step for technology will be "priming the channel" to sell it to enterprise customers. Global revenue in the branded bare metal switching space reached $23m (€21.6m) in 2016's first half, more than double the total posted in the final six months of last year. Full-year sales are expected to soar past $50m this year, an increase in the region of 300 per cent on the 2015 tally.

Grossner acknowledges that although the bare metal space is "tiny" when compared with the wider $8bn datacentre Ethernet switch space, the nascent market is progressing healthily thus far.

"It's in line with expectations, given [that] the market was launched by Dell just over two years ago," he said. "The hype surrounding branded bare metal switches has overshadowed reality, but the segment is rolling along at a respectable clip. Now that a good selection of branded bare metal switches and maturing switch OS software are available, the next efforts should be focused on priming the channel to enterprises."

The concept of bare metal switching aims to offer customers a more flexible and configurable alternative to proprietary hardware products. Bare metal switch manufacturers have all signed up to the Open Network Install Environment, and a number of companies - most notably Cumulus Networks - have created open-source Linux network operating systems on which the hardware can run.

The concept of bare metal switching aims to offer customers a more flexible and configurable alternative to proprietary hardware products. Bare metal switch manufacturers have all signed up to the Open Network Install Environment, and a number of companies - most notably Cumulus Networks - have created open-source Linux network operating systems on which the hardware can run.

The technology's rise mirrors that of so-called whitebox servers, which have risen to prominence in recent years in line with the growth of public cloud and hyperscale computing environments, such as those operated by Facebook, Google, and Amazon. The storage market has also seen a shake-up, with ODMs taking share from established brands on the back of selling direct to hyperscale providers.

Such compute-heavy uses are an obvious target for this new breed of stripped-down hardware, but the challenge now facing purveyors of this technology will be to grow sales among the wider enterprise market.