How can a high density of ports and high throughput at the core of an HP FlexNetwork save customers

How can a high density of ports and high throughput at the core of an HP FlexNetwork save
customers money?

A.
Intelligence is offloaded from the edge switches, enabling customers to save money on the
most numerous switches in their solutions.

B.
The customer can combine the data center and campus LAN core into a single entity, reducing
power and cooling costs.

C.
The customer no longer needs to deploy modular switches at the distribution level and the
edge, deploying more cost-effective stackable switches instead.

D.
The architecture can be simplified, eliminating expensive distribution devices and reducing
power and cooling costs.

Explanation:
Simplifying the data center network architecture
In the core of the network, HP 12500 switches can be deployed in conjunction with IRF to
completely eliminate the
aggregation layer found in conventional three-tier data center networks. IRF overcomes the

limitations of legacy
spanning tree networks by fully leveraging all network connectivity (no inactive backup paths) and
by providing rapid
failover to dramatically improve network utilization and performance in the network core.
A collapsed, two-tier data center network architecture enables direct-flight server-to-server
performance, requires
significantly fewer connections and port counts (no aggregation switches), streamlines
provisioning and network
management, and reduces capital expense and energy consumption (D). In addition, these twotier networks provide
large Layer 2 domains to enable VM migration across the data center (move workloads from one
server to another
server in the same VLAN/IP subnet.)
Figure: FlexFabric supports a range of network designs to support diverse customer requirements

Reference: HP FlexFabric Reference Architecture Overview, Technical white paper