Systems built with solid state disks (SSD) represent the cutting edge in performance and are the “go-to” option for data centers looking to solve performance problems. So these systems should be coupled with the absolute cutting edge in storage I/O performance, too, right?

In some cases, they do need a high-performance network. But in many cases, the server–or the application running on that server–cannot take full advantage of a high-speed network, even if they can take advantage of SSD.

While the options for high-speed networking are increasing and getting more affordable, it’s still a considerable investment to upgrade a storage network infrastructure. Not only is there the cost of the physical components like switches, cards, and cabling, there’s also the time required to reconnect each new server.
Network Computing