Cisco estimates global cloud computing traffic will grow
12-fold from 130 exabytes to reach a total of 1.6 zettabytes annually by 2015,
a 66 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

Cloud is the fastest growing component of data center
traffic, which itself will grow 4-fold at a 33 percent CAGR to reach 4.8
zettabytes annually by 2015.

Cloud is also estimated today to be 11 percent of data
center traffic, growing to more than 33 percent of the total by 2015. Cloud is
becoming a critical element for the future of information technology (IT) and
delivery of video and content, according to Cisco Global Cloud Index (2010 –
2015).

The vast majority of the data center traffic is not
caused by end users but by the data centers and clouds themselves undertaking
activities that are largely transparent to end users.

By 2015, 76 percent of data center traffic will remain
within the data center itself as workloads migrate between various virtual
machines and background tasks take place, 17 percent of the total traffic
leaves the data center to be delivered to the end user, while an additional 7
percent of total traffic is generated between data centers through activities
such as cloud-bursting, data replication and updates.

Globally, cloud traffic will grow from just 11 percent
(11 exabytes per month and 130 exabytes annually) of total data center traffic
in 2010 to more than a third of total data center traffic (34 percent
specifically — 137 exabytes per month and 1.6 zettabytes annually) by 2015.

Greater virtualization and improved economies of scale
will be a key driver of the cloud transition.

The transition to cloud services is driving global cloud
traffic at a growth rate that is twice as great as global data center traffic.
Global data center traffic will grow fourfold (a 33 percent CAGR) from 2010 to
2015, while global cloud traffic will grow 12-fold (a 66 percent CAGR) over the
same period.

Cloud data centers offer better performance, higher
utilization and greater ease of management than traditional data centers.
Virtualization serves as a major catalyst in enabling hardware and software
consolidation, greater automation and an integrated security approach.

Data center traffic is forecast to more than quadruple
from 1.1 zettabytes in 2010 to 4.8 zettabytes annually in 2015, representing a
33 percent CAGR.

Of the data center traffic in 2015, 76 percent stays
within the data center itself, through such activities as storage and
authentication across virtual machines.

17 percent is data-center traffic being delivered to end
users.

7 percent is generated between data centers through
activities such as backup and replication.

Due predominately to the rise in video-based consumer
services, data-center-to-user traffic has some significant peaks in activity.
Much like prime time viewing hours, average amount of data center traffic per
hour during peak periods is expected to rise up to 2.5 times, requiring the
need to plan for additional capacity from data centers and the cloud as well as
from the network. The on-demand model of cloud is perfectly suited to serve
this type of variable demand.

In 2010, 21 percent of workloads were processed in a
cloud-based data center with 79 percent being handled in a traditional data
center.

2014 is the first year where the balance of workloads
shifts toward the cloud for the first time — 51 percent of total workloads
will be in a cloud environment versus 49 percent in the traditional IT space.

Overall, the data center workload from 2010 – 2015 is growing
2.7-fold; however, the cloud workload from 2010 – 2015 is growing more than
7-fold over the forecast period.

“Cloud and data center traffic is exploding, driven
by user demand to access volumes of content on the devices of their choice. The
result: greater data center virtualization and relevance of the network for
cloud applications and the need to make sense of a dynamically evolving
situation. The Cisco Global Cloud Index provides insight into this traffic
growth and trends so that organizations can make strategic long-term
decisions” said Suraj Shetty, vice president of product and solutions
marketing, Cisco.

By Telecomlead.com Team
[email protected]