World's First 64 x 400GbE / 256 x 100GbE Switching Silicon Enables Next Wave of Hyperscale Cloud Build-Out for Machine Learning and Storage Disaggregation.
Delivered in less than two years after the previous 12.8Tbps product generation, Tomahawk 4 is implemented in 7nm technology with 512 50G PAM4 SerDes. Tomahawk 4's high level of integration and highly efficient architecture delivers up to 75 percent lower power and cost compared to alternative solutions.
The growth of hyperscale cloud networks continues its unrelenting upward trend, with bandwidth increasing by 25 percent and storage by 36 percent year-over-year[1]. Workloads for deep learning, using massively distributed neural networks and alternative computing nodes, require a dramatic increase in bandwidth with dense 100/200/400GbE links spanning high-radix, ultra-low-latency network topologies.
The continued trend towards disaggregated, high-density flash storage is concurrently demanding step functions in network throughput and reduced end-to-end access times. With its market-leading switching performance, high 100/200/400GbE port density, and rich feature set optimized for cloud use cases, Broadcom's Tomahawk 4 is ideally suited to serve as the backbone for the next generation of hyperscale data center networks.
'The Tomahawk franchise is the flagship for cutting-edge, single-chip performance and integration among Broadcom's multi-vectored Ethernet switch silicon portfolio, tailored to the unique and rigorous demands of hyperscale data center operators,' said
'Tomahawk 4 is an engineering tour de force, packing an unprecedented number of serdes into a monolithic 7nm chip,' said
Tomahawk 4 accelerates the adoption of 100/200/400GbE Ethernet solutions at a point where optics utilizing 50G PAM4 electrical connectivity are shipping in high volumes. Products from Broadcom's Optical Systems Division, which offers a suite of optical interconnect solutions supporting 50G PAM4 and 100G PAM4 optical data rates, complement Broadcom's switch chips. The combination of switches and pluggable optics from Broadcom provides a complete system-level solution with plug-and-play functionality.
StrataXGS Tomahawk 4 Series Key Benefits:
Enables the next generation of high-throughput, low latency hyperscale networks with 64 ports of 400GbE switching and routing.
World's highest radix of 100GbE ports: 256 ports supported on a single chip, enabling low-latency, single-hop networks for massive alternative compute clusters.
Robust connectivity using 512 instances of the industry's highest performance and longest-reach 50G PAM4 SerDes core, enabling long-reach
The industry's most advanced 25.6Tbps shared-buffer architecture, offering up to 5X higher incast absorption and providing the highest performance and lowest end-to-end latency for RoCEv2 workloads.
New advanced load balancing mechanisms, virtually eliminating hash polarization and providing extremely efficient, controllable link utilization.
Advanced congestion management, enabling new traffic management paradigms.
Industry-leading instrumentation including
Four 1 GHz ARM processors for high-bandwidth, fully-programmable streaming telemetry and sophisticated embedded applications such as on-chip statistics summarization.
Implemented with unparalleled power efficiency in a monolithic 7nm die.
Broadcom also announced the introduction of Broadcom Open Network Switch APIs (OpenNSA), opening its SDK APIs for StrataXGS and StrataDNX products. Multiple open source network operating system initiatives are underway in the disaggregation ecosystem, focused on hyperscale and service provider markets. OpenNSA enables these initiatives on merchant silicon and allows the larger community to build on top of these efforts. OpenNSA also expands
Industry Quotes:
'Alibaba Cloud has worked closely with Broadcom on Tomahawk 4 products. With Broadcom's Tomahawk 4, Alibaba Cloud is able to accelerate the adoption of 100/200/400GbE Ethernet solutions and provide faster and better solutions to our customers.'
'We are excited to collaborate with Broadcom to bring the Tomahawk switch series to market to support the scaling requirements of modern data center networks.'
'With the exponential growth of network capacities and high-volume deployments of 100G and 400G the 25.6T Tomahawk 4 will be a major building block for that evolution. Broadcom has demonstrated with its sampling of Tomahawk 4, yet again, the leadership in delivering the cutting-edge technology for networking, with a focus on end-user requirements optimization, feature set optimization, and integration in a single chip as a base building block for the next wave of data center build-outs. The enhanced forwarding, load balancing, buffering, and congestion control capabilities will address essential needs for hyperscale workloads and will enable the next generation of platforms and networks to be built.'
Wen Temitim, Chief Technology Officer,
'The build-out of the intelligent edge is underway, and
'
'At Uber, we have been deploying leading-edge Ethernet speeds and feeds to guarantee the highest possible network performance for the best end-user experience. Broadcom's StrataXGS Tomahawk product line has been a key technology component in our worldwide data center design. With the arrival of Tomahawk 4 25.6Tbps, it ushers in the era of 400GbE leaf-spine CLOS deployment, and enables Uber to support ever-increasing workloads for autonomous vehicle, SaaS, and big data applications.'
'The Arista 7060X and 7368X4 Series running EOS provide a broad range of solutions for Mega-Scale Cloud datacenter environments, powered by multiple generations of the Broadcom Tomahawk architecture. Tomahawk 4 delivers an impressive 25.6T of bandwidth in a high-radix, power efficient design. These innovations enable tomorrow's Cloud datacenter architectures that collapse network layers, provide improved host-to-host performance, while reducing the complexity of the network.'
'Broadcom is making important, impressive advancements with Tomahawk 4 that enhance our PowerSwitch open networking capabilities. The advanced shared buffer architecture enables high bandwidth scale-out networking infrastructure with low port-to-port latency for deep learning and hyperscale environments. The new telemetry features will enable a much needed and highly transparent physical layer, supporting our vision of the autonomous data center.'
'Juniper is excited to partner with Broadcom and double the capacity of DC platforms with Tomahawk 4. Broadcom's sustained execution allows Juniper to keep providing an extensive routing and switching portfolio, one that combines best-of-breed silicon technology with JunOS, the industry's most advanced network operating system, and addresses the leading-edge requirements of our customers.'
'Ruijie is dedicated to providing a broad portfolio of advanced networking equipment to our Cloud customers. With Tomahawk 4's bandwidth doubling existing switch silicon, and rich cloud-optimized feature set, including best-in-class instrumentation, we will be able to provide our customers with the capabilities demanded by next-generation Cloud networks.'
'Tomahawk 4, 25.6Tbps, is an exciting achievement for Broadcom as many of our hyperscale customers are upgrading their network infrastructure to support their ever-increasing application demands. At
'Alpha has been working with Broadcom's StrataXGS product family for several generations. We congratulate Broadcom for being first-to-market with Tomahawk 4, and we look forward to offering a new portfolio of platforms based on this groundbreaking 25.6
'As a leader in the disaggregated Ethernet networking ecosystem,
'The pace of innovation in the Ethernet networking space is driven by the hyperscalers. With the latest Tomahawk 4 from Broadcom, Delta can expand our portfolio offering to our customers and deliver state-of-the-art 64x400G and 256x100G platforms.'
'Broadcom has maintained a torrid pace of innovation and execution for its Tomahawk product line. The newest addition to the product family, Tomahawk 4 25.6T, is well suited for many of our customer's use cases. We are proud to participate in this revolutionary product development, and we look forward to great mutual success through our cooperation with Broadcom.'
'Once again, Broadcom has executed flawlessly and maintained its leadership position in the Ethernet switch market. Tomahawk 4, 25.6Tbps, is an engineering marvel, as the 7nm ASIC provides the highest bandwidth in the industry, and provides flexibility to support 50, 100, 200, and 400GbE ports. QCT is very proud to be Broadcom's ecosystem partner for this flagship product.'
'The 25.6T bandwidth point represents an important incremental upgrade for datacenter users. Its ability to leverage an existing high volume, qualified broad optics portfolio as provided by AOI's QSFP-DD and OSFP modules, is critical to enable cost effective time deployment of next generation datacenter networks.'
'Broadcom's Tomahawk 4 is well positioned to support the needs of hyperscale users. While it delivers 2x the bandwidth, it still preserves the industry standard 8x50G interface for 400G connectivity. This is well aligned with
Availability
Broadcom is now shipping Tomahawk 4 BCM56990 devices to qualified customers. For more information on the Tomahawk 4 and all Broadcom products and solutions please click here.
About Broadcom
Broadcom, the pulse logo, StrataXGS, Tomahawk and Connecting everything are among the trademarks of Broadcom. The term 'Broadcom' refers to
[1] Cisco Global Cloud Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2016-2021 White Paper, https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/service-provider/global-cloud-index-gci/white-paper-c11-738085.pdf
Press Contact:
Corporate Communications
press.relations@broadcom.com
Telephone: +1 408 433 7924
(C) 2019 Electronic News Publishing, source