The Cisco® Global Cloud Index is an ongoing effort to forecast the growth of global data center and cloud-based IP traffic. The forecast includes trends associated with data center virtualization and cloud computing. This document presents the details of the study and the methodology behind it.
Forecast Overview
Global data center traffic:
• Annual global data center IP traffic will reach 6.6 zettabytes by the end of 2016. By 2016, global data center IP traffic will reach 554 exabytes per month (up from 146 exabytes per month in 2011).
• Global data center IP traffic will nearly quadruple over the next 5 years. Overall, data center IP traffic will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 31 percent from 2011 to 2016.
Data center virtualization and cloud computing transition:
• The number of workloads per installed traditional server will increase from 1.5 in 2011 to 2.0 by 2016.
• The number of workloads per installed cloud server will increase from 4.2 in 2011 to 8.5 by 2016.
• By 2016, nearly two-thirds of all workloads will be processed in the cloud.
Global cloud traffic:
• Annual global cloud IP traffic will reach 4.3 zettabytes by the end of 2016. By 2016, global cloud IP traffic will reach 355 exabytes per month (up from 57 exabytes per month in 2011).
• Global cloud IP traffic will increase six-fold over the next 5 years. Overall, cloud IP traffic will grow at a CAGR of 44 percent from 2011 to 2016.
• Global cloud IP traffic will account for nearly two-thirds of total data center traffic by 2016.
Regional cloud readiness:
• North America and Western Europe led in broadband access (fixed and mobile) in 2011 and will continue to lead in this category through 2016. However, all regions will show measurable improvement in broadband access to their respective populations throughout the forecast period. Asia Pacific leads in the number of subscribers throughout the forecast period due to the region's large population (see Broadband Ubiquity section for details).
• Western Europe leads all regions with an average fixed download speed of 11.7 Mbps. North America follows with an average fixed download speed of 10.3 Mbps. Asia Pacific and Central and Eastern Europe lead all regions in average fixed upload speeds of 6.7 Mbps and 5.9 Mbps, respectively (see Download and Upload Speed Overview section for details).
• Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe lead all regions in average fixed network latency with 58 ms and 59 ms, respectively (see Network Latency section for details).
Evolution of Data Center Traffic
In just the past year since the first Cisco Global Cloud Index was released, the industry has seen cloud adoption evolving from an emerging technology to an established networking solution that is gaining widespread acceptance and deployment. Enterprise and government organizations are moving from test environments to placing more of their mission-critical workloads in the cloud. And for consumers, cloud services offer ubiquitous access to content and services, on multiple devices, almost anywhere network users are located.
Qualitatively, the main drivers for cloud adoption include faster delivery of services and data, increased application performance, as well as improved operational efficiencies. While security and integration with existing IT environments continue to represent concerns for some potential cloud-based applications, a growing range of consumer and business cloud services are currently available. Today's cloud services address varying customer requirements (for example, privacy, mobility, and multiple device access) and support near-term opportunities as well as long-term strategic priorities for network operators, both public and private.
Quantitatively, the impact of cloud computing on data center traffic is clear. It is important to recognize that most Internet traffic has originated or terminated in a data center since 2008. Data center traffic will continue to dominate Internet traffic for the foreseeable future, but the nature of data center traffic is undergoing a fundamental transformation brought about by cloud applications, services, and infrastructure. The importance and relevance of the global cloud evolution is highlighted by one of the top-line projections from this updated forecast-by 2016 nearly two-thirds of data center traffic will be cloud traffic.
The following sections summarize not only the volume and growth of traffic entering and exiting the data center, but also the traffic carried between different functional units within the data center.
Global Data Center IP Traffic: Nearly Four-fold Increase by 2016
Figure 1 summarizes the forecast for data center IP traffic growth from 2011 to 2016.
Figure 1. Global Data Center IP Traffic Growth
The Internet is forecast to reach the zettabyte era in 2016, but the data center has already entered the zettabyte era. While the amount of traffic crossing the Internet and IP WAN networks is projected to reach 1.3 zettabytes per year in 20161, the amount of data center traffic is already 1.8 zettabytes per year, and by 2016 will nearly quadruple to reach 6.6 zettabytes per year. This represents a 31 percent CAGR. The higher volume of data center traffic is due to the inclusion of traffic inside the data center (typically, definitions of Internet and WAN stop at the boundary of the data center).
The global data center traffic forecast, a major component of the Cisco Global Cloud Index, covers network data centers worldwide operated by service providers as well as private enterprises. Please see Appendix A for more details on the methodology of the data center and cloud traffic forecasts, and Appendix B for the positioning of the Global Cloud Index Forecast relative to the Cisco VNI Global IP Traffic Forecast.
Data Center Traffic Destinations: Most Traffic Remains Within the Data Center
Consumer and business traffic flowing through data centers can be broadly categorized into three main areas (Figure 2):
• Traffic that remains within the data center
• Traffic that flows from data center to data center
• Traffic that flows from the data center to end users through the Internet or IP WAN
Figure 2. Global Data Center Traffic by Destination
The portion of traffic residing within the data center will remain the majority throughout the forecast period, accounting for 76 percent of data center traffic in both 2011 and 2016. Factors contributing to traffic remaining in the data center include functional separation of application servers, storage, and databases, which generates replication, backup, and read/write traffic traversing the data center. Furthermore, parallel processing divides tasks and sends them to multiple servers, contributing to internal data center traffic.
The ratio of traffic exiting the data center to traffic remaining within the data center could be expected to increase over time, because video files are bandwidth-heavy and do not require database or processing traffic commensurate with their file size. However, the increasing use of applications such as desktop virtualization is likely to offset this trend. In addition, the virtualization of storage and other data center capabilities increases traffic within the data center because functions may no longer be local to a rack or server. Table 1 provides details for global data center traffic growth rates.
Table 1. Global Data Center Traffic, 2011-2016
Data Center IP Traffic, 2011-2016
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
CAGR
2011-2016
By Type (EB per Year)
Data center to user
299
438
561
714
912
1,160
31%
Data center to data center
118
173
222
284
365
468
32%
Within data center
1,338
1,940
2,468
3,126
3,969
5,021
30%
By Segment (EB per Year)
Consumer
1,404
2,107
2,700
3,439
4,418
5,672
32%
Business
351
444
551
685
828
977
23%
By Type (EB per Year)
Cloud data center
683
1,181
1,694
2,324
3,166
4,255
44%
Traditional data center
1,072
1,370
1,557
1,800
2,080
2,394
17%
Total (EB per Year)
Total data center traffic
1,755
2,551
3,251
4,124
5,246
6,649
31%
Source: Cisco Global Cloud Index, 2012
Definitions:
• Data center to user: Traffic that flows from the data center to end users through the Internet or IP WAN
• Data center to data center: Traffic that flows from data center to data center
• Within data center: Traffic that remains within the data center
• Consumer: Traffic originating with or destined for consumer end users
• Business: Traffic originating with or destined for business end users
• Cloud data center: Traffic associated with cloud consumer and business applications
• Traditional data center: Traffic associated with noncloud consumer and business applications
Data Center Workloads: Nearly Two-Thirds Will Be Cloud-Based by 2016
A workload can be defined as the amount of processing a server undertakes to run an application and support a number of users interacting with the application. The Cisco Global Cloud Index forecasts the continued transition of workloads from traditional data centers to cloud data centers. By 2016, nearly two-thirds of all workloads will be processed in cloud data centers (Figure 3). For regional distributions of workloads, see Appendix E.
Figure 3. Workload Distribution: 2011-2016
Growth of workloads in cloud data centers will be five and a half times that of the growth in traditional workloads between 2011 and 2016. Traditionally, one server carried one workload. However, with increasing server computing capacity and virtualization, multiple workloads per physical server are common in cloud architectures. Cloud economics, including server cost, resiliency, scalability, and product lifespan, are promoting migration of workloads across servers, both inside the data center and across data centers (even centers in different geographic areas).
Often an end-user application can be supported by several workloads distributed across servers. This can generate multiple streams of traffic within and between data centers, in addition to traffic to and from the end user. The average workload per cloud server will grow from a little over four in 2011 to eight and a half by 2016. In comparison, the average workload per traditional data center server will grow from one and a half in 2011 to two in 2016. Table 2 provides details on workloads shifting from traditional data centers to cloud data centers.
Table 2. Workload Shift from Traditional Data Center to Cloud Data Center
Global Data Center Workloads in Millions
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
CAGR 2011-2016
Traditional data center workloads
49.8
53.1
58.3
63.7
66.7
68.5
7%
Cloud data center workloads
21.3
33.5
49.7
67.9
88.4
112.1
39%
Total data center workloads
71.1
86.6
108.0
131.6
155.1
180.6
20%
Cloud workloads as a percentage of total data center workloads
30%
39%
46%
52%
57%
62%
NA
Traditional workloads as a percentage of total data center workloads
70%
61%
54%
48%
43%
38%
NA
Source: Cisco Global Cloud Index, 2012
Global Data Center and Cloud IP Traffic Growth
Data center traffic on a global scale grows at 31 percent CAGR (Figure 4), but cloud data center traffic grows at a faster rate of 44 percent CAGR, or six-fold growth between 2011 and 2016 (Figure 5).
Figure 4. Total Data Center Traffic Growth
Figure 5. Cloud Data Center Traffic Growth
Cloud traffic will cross the zettabyte threshold in 2012, and by 2016, nearly two-thirds of all data center traffic will be based in the cloud. It is important to note that the methodology for the estimation of cloud data center traffic has changed since the initial release of the Cisco Global Cloud Index in 2011. The previous methodology positioned all storage traffic in the noncloud traffic category. The updated methodology now distinguishes storage traffic associated with cloud workloads and positions it within the cloud traffic category.
For example, storage traffic associated with cloud application development would be counted as cloud traffic in the updated methodology, but would have been excluded in the previous methodology. Because storage accounts for approximately 40 percent of data center traffic, the change in methodology substantially raises the overall cloud percentage of data center traffic. Using the updated methodology, cloud traffic will represent 64 percent of total data center traffic by 2016. Using the previous methodology, cloud traffic would have represented only 36 percent of total data center traffic by 2016.
Significant promoters of cloud traffic growth are the rapid adoption of and migration to cloud architectures, along with the ability of cloud data centers to handle significantly higher traffic loads. Cloud data centers support increased virtualization, standardization, and automation. These factors lead to increased performance, as well as higher capacity and throughput.
Global Business and Consumer Cloud Growth
For the purposes of this study, the Cisco Global Cloud Index characterizes traffic based on services delivered to the end user. Business data centers are typically dedicated to organizational needs and handle traffic for business needs that may adhere to stronger security guidelines. Consumer data centers typically cater to a wider audience and handle traffic for the mass consumer base.
Within the cloud data center traffic forecast, consumer traffic leads with a CAGR of 46 percent, reaching 3.6 ZB annually by 2016. Business cloud traffic grows at a CAGR of 37 percent, increasing to 596 PB annually by 2016. Table 3 provides details for global consumer and business cloud traffic growth rates.
Table 3. Global Cloud Traffic, 2011-2016
Cloud IP Traffic, 2011-2016
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
CAGR
2011-2016
By Segment (EB per Year)
Consumer
559
992
1,426
1,960
2,692
3,659
46%
Business
124
189
268
364
474
596
37%
Total (EB per Year)
Total cloud traffic
683
1,181
1,694
2,324
3,166
4,255
44%
Source: Cisco Global Cloud Index, 2012
Crucial applications are contributing to increased cloud adoption in both the business and consumer segments. For business, the necessity to provide fast and flexible access to large data archives is an important objective for IT organizations considering cloud-based solutions. In addition, enabling advanced analytics to tap into the wealth of information contained in largely unstructured data archives can create a valuable competitive business advantage. And enhanced collaboration services delivered through the cloud can increase employee productivity and customer satisfaction.
In the consumer space, applications such as video and audio streaming are strong factors in cloud traffic growth, while newer services such as personal content lockers are also gaining in popularity. In personal content lockers, users can store and share music, photos, and videos through an easy-to-use interface at relatively low or no cost. Furthermore, the proliferation of tablets, smartphones, and other mobile devices allow access to personal content lockers in a manner convenient to the user.
Cisco GCI forecasts that personal cloud traffic will increase from .6 EB annually in 2011 to 25 EB in 2016, at a CAGR of 111 percent (Figure 6).
Figure 6. Personal Content Locker Traffic Growth
Cloud Traffic Growth by Region
The Cisco Global Cloud Index now includes regional forecast data for cloud traffic growth (Figure 7).
• In 2011, North America generated the most cloud traffic (261 exabytes annually); followed by Asia Pacific (216 exabytes annually); and Western Europe (156 exabytes annually).
• By 2016, Asia Pacific will generate the most cloud traffic (1.5 zettabytes annually); followed by North America (1.1 zettabytes annually); and Western Europe (1 zettabyte annually).
• From 2011-2016, the Middle East and Africa is expected to have the highest cloud traffic growth rate (79 percent CAGR); followed by Latin America (66 percent CAGR); and Central and Eastern Europe (55 percent CAGR). These regions are starting from a smaller cloud traffic base than other regions. Please refer to Appendix F for further details.
Figure 7. Cloud Traffic Growth by Region
Global Cloud Readiness
The cloud readiness segment of this study offers a regional view of the requirements for broadband and mobile networks to deliver next-generation cloud services. The enhancements and reliability of these networks will support the increased adoption of business consumer cloud computing solutions that deliver basic as well as advanced application services. For example, consumers expect to be able to communicate with friends as well as stream music and videos any time, any place. Business users require continuous access to business communications and mobile solutions for videoconferencing and mission-critical customer and operational management systems.
Download and upload speeds as well as latencies are essential measures to assess network capabilities for cloud readiness. Figure 8 provides the sample business and consumer cloud service categories and the corresponding network requirements used for this study. Note that the concurrent use of applications can further influence the user experience and cloud accessibility.
Figure 8. Sample Business and Consumer Cloud Service Categories
Regional network performance statistics were ranked by their ability to support these three cloud service categories. Over 90 million records from Ookla2, the Cisco GIST application, and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) were analyzed from nearly 150 countries around the world, covering a span of two years of data. The regional averages of these measures are included below and in Appendix G.
The cloud readiness characteristics are as follows.
Network Access:
• Broadband ubiquity: This indicator measures fixed and mobile broadband penetration while considering population demographics to understand the pervasiveness and expected connectivity in various regions.
Network Performance:
• Download speed: With increased adoption of mobile and fixed bandwidth-intensive applications, end-user download speed is an important characteristic. This indicator will continue to be critical for the quality of service delivered to virtual machines, customer relationship management (CRM), and enterprise resource planning (ERP) cloud platforms for businesses, and video download and content retrieval cloud services for consumers.
• Upload speed: With the increased adoption of virtual machines, tablets, and videoconferencing in enterprises as well as by consumers on both fixed and mobile networks, upload speeds are especially critical for delivery of content to the cloud. The importance of upload speeds will continue to increase over time, promoted by the dominance of cloud computing and data center virtualization, the need to transmit many millions of software updates and patches, the distribution of large files in virtual file systems, and the demand for consumer cloud game services and backup storage.
• Network latency: Delays experienced with voice over IP (VoIP), viewing and uploading videos, online banking on mobile broadband, or viewing hospital records in a healthcare setting, are due to high latencies (usually reported in milliseconds). Reducing delay in delivering packets to and from the cloud is crucial to delivering today's advanced services (and ensuring a high-quality end-user experience).
Broadband Ubiquity
Figures 9 and 10 summarize broadband penetration by region in 2011 and 2016. North America and Western Europe led in broadband access (fixed and mobile) in 2011 and will continue to lead by 2016. However, all regions will show measurable improvement in broadband access to their respective populations throughout the forecast period. Asia Pacific leads in the number of subscribers throughout the forecast period due to the region's large population.
The methodology for estimating of broadband ubiquity has changed since the initial release of the Cisco Global Cloud Index in 2011. This year, internal projections were used based on a bottom-up approach that includes estimating broadband lines and average users per household, and then validating the country estimates against country-specific telecom-reported data. On the mobile side, the approach focuses on mobile Internet users instead of subscriptions, which prevents duplicative calculations (because some users may have multiple subscriptions). Please refer to Appendix H for further details.
Figure 9. Regional Broadband Ubiquity, 2011
Figure 10. Regional Broadband Ubiquity, 2016
Global Average Download and Upload Speed Overview (2012)
Download and upload speeds as well as latencies are key measures to assess network capabilities for cloud readiness. The Cisco GCI Supplement provides additional country-level detail for download speeds, upload speeds, and latencies.
• The global average fixed download speed is 9.4 Mbps.
• The global average fixed upload speed is 4.5 Mbps.
• The global average mobile download speed is 2.2 Mbps.
• The global average mobile upload speed is .97 Mbps.
Consumer Average Fixed Download and Upload Speeds
• For consumer average fixed download speeds, Western Europe leads with 11.6 Mbps and North America follows with 10.6 Mbps.
• For consumer average fixed upload speeds, Asia Pacific leads in with 6.8 Mbps and Central and Eastern Europe follows with 5.9 Mbps (Figure 11). Please refer to Appendix G and the Cisco GCI Supplement for further details.
Figure 11. Regional Consumer Average Fixed Speeds, 2012
Consumer Average Mobile Download and Upload Speeds
• For consumer average mobile download speeds, North America leads with 3.3 Mbps and Western Europe follows with 2.7 Mbps.
• For consumer average mobile upload speeds, North America leads with 1.6 Mbps, and Western Europe follows with 1.2 Mbps (Figure 12). Please refer to Appendix G and the Cisco GCI Supplement for further details.
Figure 12. Regional Consumer Average Mobile Speeds, 2012
Business Average Fixed Download and Upload Speeds
• For business average fixed download speeds, Western Europe leads with 15.8 Mbps and Central and Eastern Europe is next with 11.5 Mbps.
• For business average fixed upload speeds, Western Europe leads with 11.3 Mbps and Central and Eastern Europe is next with 7.6 Mbps (Figure 13). Please refer to Appendix G and the Cisco GCI Supplement for further details.
Figure 13. Regional Business Average Fixed Speeds, 2012
Business Mobile Download and Upload Speeds
• For business average mobile download speeds, Central and Eastern Europe leads with 3.14 Mbps and Western Europe follows with 3.13 Mbps.
• For business average mobile download speeds, Central and Eastern Europe leads with 1.7 Mbps and Asia Pacific follows with 1.6 Mbps (Figure 14). Please refer to Appendix G and the Cisco GCI Supplement for further details.
Figure 14. Regional Business Average Mobile Speeds, 2012
Network Latency
• Global average fixed latency is 70 ms.
• Western Europe leads in average fixed latency with 58 ms and Central and Eastern Europe closely follows with 59 ms.
• Central and Eastern Europe leads in business average fixed latencies with 73 ms and North America is next with 93 ms.
• Western Europe leads in consumer average fixed latencies with 58 ms and Central and Eastern Europe is next with 59 ms.
• Global average mobile latency is 229 ms.
• Western Europe leads in average mobile latency with 142 ms and Central and Eastern Europe follows with 180 ms.
• Latin America leads in business average mobile latency with 231 ms and North America is next with 248 ms.
• Western Europe leads in consumer average mobile latency with 142 ms and North America is next with 179 ms. Please refer to Appendix G and the Cisco GCI Supplement for further details.
Conclusion
In summary, there are several main conclusions from the Cisco Global Cloud Index 2011-2016.
Global data center traffic is firmly in the zettabyte era and will nearly quadruple from 2011 to reach 6.6 zettabytes annually by 2016. A rapidly growing segment of data center traffic is cloud traffic, which will increase six-fold over the forecast period and represent nearly two-thirds of all data center traffic by 2016.
An important traffic promoter in the rapid expansion of cloud computing is increasing data center virtualization, which provides services that are flexible, fast to deploy, and efficient. Additional trends influencing the growth of cloud computing include the widespread adoption of multiple devices combined with increasing user expectations to access applications and content anytime, from anywhere, over any network. To address these rising user demands, cloud-based data centers can support more virtual machines and workloads per physical server than traditional data centers. By 2016, nearly two-thirds of all workloads will be processed in the cloud.
This study also considers the importance of broadband ubiquity and its relationship to cloud readiness. Based on the regional average download and upload speeds and latencies for business and consumer traffic on mobile and fixed connections, all regions can support at least a basic level of cloud services. The focus now turns to continuing to improve network capabilities to support the advanced cloud applications that organizations and end-users expect and rely upon.
Appendix A: Data Center Traffic Forecast Methodology
Figure 15 outlines the methodology used to forecast data center and cloud traffic. The methodology begins with the installed base of workloads categorized by workload type and implementation and then applies the volume of bytes per workload per month to obtain the traffic for current and future years.
Figure 15. Data Center Traffic Forecast Methodology
Analyst Data
Data from several analyst firms and international agencies (including Gartner, IDC, Informa, Ovum, ITU, United Nations) was used as inputs to the Global Cloud Index analysis. For example, analyst data was considered to calculate an installed base of workloads by workload type and implementation (cloud or noncloud). The analyst input consisted of server shipments with specified workload types and implementations. Cisco then estimated the installed base of servers and the number of workloads per server to obtain an installed base of workloads.
Measured Data
Network data was collected from 10 enterprise and Internet centers. The architectures of the data centers analyzed vary, with some having a three-tiered and others a two-tiered architecture. For three-tiered data centers, data was collected from four points: the link from the access routers to the aggregation routers, the link from the aggregation switches or routers to the site or regional backbone router, the WAN gateway, and the Internet gateway. For two-tiered data centers, data was collected from three points: the link from the access routers to the aggregation routers, the WAN gateway, and the Internet gateway.
For enterprise data centers, any traffic measured northbound of the aggregation also carries non-data-center traffic to and from the local business campus. For this reason, to obtain ratios of the volume of traffic carried at each tier, it was necessary to measure the traffic by conversations between hosts rather than traffic between interfaces, so that the non-data-center conversations could be eliminated. The hosts at either end of the conversation were identified and categorized by location and type. To be considered data center traffic, at least one of the conversation pairs had to be identified as appearing in the link between the data center aggregation switch or router and the access switch or router. A volume of 40 terabytes of traffic for each month was analyzed. Included in this study were the 12 months ending September 2012.
In addition, as noted in the white paper, the methodology for the estimation of cloud data center traffic has changed since the last release of the Cisco Global Cloud Index. The previous methodology included all storage traffic in the noncloud traffic category. The updated methodology includes storage traffic associated with cloud workloads in the cloud traffic category. For example, storage traffic associated with cloud application development would be counted as cloud traffic in the updated methodology, but would have been excluded in the previous methodology.
Appendix B: Global Cloud Index and Visual Networking Index
The Cisco Global Cloud Index and Cisco Visual Networking Index are distinct forecasts that have an area of overlap. The Cisco VNI forecasts the amount of traffic crossing the Internet and IP WAN networks, while the Cisco GCI forecasts traffic within the data center, from data center to data center, and from data center to user. The Cisco VNI forecast consists of data-center-to-user traffic, along with non-data-center traffic not included in the Cisco GCI (various types of peer-to-peer traffic).
The Cisco GCI includes data-center-to-user traffic (this is the overlap with the Cisco VNI) data-center-to-data-center traffic, and traffic within the data center. The Cisco VNI forecasts the amount of traffic crossing the Internet and IP WAN networks (Figure 16).
Figure 16. Cisco VNI and Global Cloud Index
Appendix C: Multiple Device Proliferation
The rapid growth in the adoption of multiple devices by end users, consumers and businesses alike, has been noted in this white paper as a major factor in the transition to cloud-based services that can provide ubiquitous access to content and applications through any device at any location.
Figures 17 and 18 demonstrate at a regional level the expansion of multiple device usage from 2011 to 2016. In 2011, North America led in average fixed devices per user, while Central and Eastern Europe led in average mobile devices per user. In 2016, North America is expected to lead in average fixed devices per user, while Western Europe takes a slight lead in mobile devices per user. Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe increase in both mobile and fixed average devices per user, while Middle East and Africa's increases are primarily in mobile devices.
Figure 17. Multiple Device Proliferation in 2011
Figure 18. Multiple Device Proliferation in 2016
Appendix D: IPv6 and Cloud Traffic
As indicated by the Cisco Global Cloud Index, 2011-2016, strong cloud traffic growth is expected over the next few years. This growth is largely due to businesses, public sector organizations, and consumers who are increasingly connecting to business-critical applications, communications services, and interactive multimedia content through the cloud, using multiple devices.
Each network-connected device or node (including smartphones, tablets, PCs, TVs, and M2M) will require an IP address, but IPv4 address space is rapidly depleting. IPv6, however, is well-positioned to deliver the scalability and operational efficiencies that will deliver an environment where every "thing" could be part of the cloud.
The IPv6 cloud transformation is already underway, with providers enabling IPv6 for their service offerings, including:
• Cisco WebEx® offering the first Collaboration Cloud service over IPv6 before year end, and the first to U.S. federal customers
• Cloud infrastructure providers such as Rackspace, Amazon, and OVH enabling IPv6 by default
• StratoGen managed hosting of 4 million domain names over IPv6
• Cloud services running over IPv6, such as Google Gmail or GDoc for enterprises and the public sector
• Content delivery network providers Akamai and Limelight deploying IPv6 throughout their infrastructures, and offering IPv6 caching and transition services to their enterprise customers
In addition, progress is being made in the IPv6 enablement of web content likely to traverse the cloud, including such popular sites as Facebook, YouTube, and Netflix. The Cisco IPv6 Lab tracks the top 500 websites in more than 120 countries, providing insights into the growing trend of web content available over IPv6 (Figure 19).
For example, in the Czech Republic, 59.4 percent of web pages are available over IPv6, and 52.9 percent are available in Brazil. Comparatively, France has 49 percent; while the United States has 43.8 percent. Some countries have much more room to grow in terms of IPv6 website availability, such as Russia (28.8 percent) or China (17.8 percent). Obviously these percentages of pages available to users with IPv6 connectivity are delivered from a relatively small number of websites that rank high as most visited. In other words, a small number of websites among the top visited sites account for the majority of the content visited over IPv6.
Another perspective to consider is the capability of devices to connect to an IPv6 network when it becomes enabled. As forecast in the Cisco VNI 2011-2016 Update, 40.3 percent of fixed and mobile devices will be IPv6-capable by 2016, increasing from 1.03 billion devices in 2011 to 7.6 billion in 2016, at a 49 percent CAGR.
With this convergence of cloud adoption and IPv6 enablement, the question is not if IPv6 cloud transformation will occur, but rather how quickly, and whether service providers and enterprises will be prepared to take advantage of the opportunities ahead.
"In a world of IPv4 scarcity, and as users will be connected using either IPv6 or shared IPv4, it is in both the interest of cloud providers and users to use end-to-end IPv6 connectivity to access their data and applications, without incurring the risk of impacting the performance, security, and user experience created by the IPv4 address sharing mechanism. It requires enterprise and cloud providers alike to enable IPv6 access to their applications whether they reside in the cloud or in their own data center." - Alain Fiocco, Senior Director, Cisco IPv6 High Impact Project
Appendix E: Workload Distribution by Region
Tables 4, 5, and 6 summarize data center workloads by type and region.
Table 4. Regional Distribution of Total Data Center Workloads, in Millions
Region
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
CAGR 2011-16
Asia Pacific
23.0
28.1
36.0
45.8
55.7
66.7
24%
Central and Eastern Europe
2.2
2.7
3.6
4.9
6.4
8.0
29%
Latin America
2.3
3.0
4.4
6.4
8.7
11.4
38%
Middle East and Africa
1.0
1.3
2.0
3.0
4.6
6.8
48%
North America
26.4
31.5
36.5
40.0
43.4
47.1
12%
Western Europe
16.3
20.1
25.6
31.5
36.3
40.7
20%
Source: Cisco Analysis, 2012
Table 5. Regional Distribution of Cloud Workloads, in Millions
Region
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
CAGR 2011-16
Asia Pacific
6.7
10.6
16.2
23.2
31.2
40.6
43%
Central and Eastern Europe
0.7
1.0
1.7
2.5
3.7
5.0
50%
Latin America
0.7
1.1
2.0
3.3
5.0
7.2
60%
Middle East and Africa
0.3
0.5
0.9
1.5
2.6
4.2
73%
North America
8.1
12.5
17.1
21.0
25.1
29.7
30%
Western Europe
4.9
7.8
11.7
16.2
20.7
25.4
39%
Source: Cisco Analysis, 2012
Table 6. Regional Distribution of Traditional Data Center Workloads, in Millions
Region
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
CAGR 2011-16
Asia Pacific
16.3
17.4
19.8
22.6
24.5
26.0
10%
Central and Eastern Europe
1.6
1.7
2.0
2.4
2.7
3.0
14%
Latin America
1.6
1.8
2.3
3.0
3.6
4.2
21%
Middle East and Africa
0.7
0.8
1.1
1.5
2.0
2.6
30%
North America
18.3
19.0
19.3
19.0
18.2
17.4
-1%
Western Europe
11.4
12.4
13.8
15.3
15.6
15.3
6%
Source: Cisco Analysis, 2012
Appendix F: Cloud Traffic Growth by Region
Table 7 summarizes cloud traffic growth by region.
Table 7. Cloud Traffic Growth by Region, in Exabytes
Region
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
CAGR 2011-16
Asia Pacific
216
375
554
793
1,116
1,541
48%
Central and Eastern Europe
21
36
57
87
131
190
55%
Latin America
21
40
69
114
181
273
66%
Middle East and Africa
8
17
30
53
94
161
79%
North America
261
439
584
720
901
1,126
34%
Western Europe
156
274
400
557
743
964
44%
Source: Cisco Analysis, 2012
Appendix G: Regional Cloud Readiness Summary
Table 8 summarizes cloud readiness by region, considering download and upload speeds, and latency. Please refer to the Cisco GCI Supplement for more detail.
Table 8. Regional Cloud Readiness
Network
Segment
Region
Average Download Speeds (kbps)
Average Upload Speeds (kbps)
Average Latency (ms)
Fixed
Business
Asia Pacific
8,190
5,433
215
Central and Eastern Europe
11,477
7,635
73
Latin America
7,606
6,809
117
Middle East and Africa
2,349
976
442
North America
9,420
7,538
93
Western Europe
15,755
11,305
94
Business average
10,056
7,505
154
Consumer
Asia Pacific
9,367
6,790
76
Central and Eastern Europe
9,119
5,967
59
Latin America
3,919
989
92
Middle East and Africa
3,457
1,021
120
North America
10,588
2,714
62
Western Europe
11,610
2,515
58
Consumer average
9,469
4,490
70
Fixed Average
9,438
4,514
70
Mobile
Business
Asia Pacific
2,955
1,680
347
Central and Eastern Europe
3,143
1,784
309
Latin America
2,907
763
231
Middle East and Africa
1,677
666
388
North America
2,432
963
248
Western Europe
3,136
1,461
264
Business average
2,919
1,443
266
Consumer
Asia Pacific
1,670
757
449
Central and Eastern Europe
2,130
927
197
Latin America
1,222
585
247
Middle East and Africa
1,922
727
323
North America
3,315
1,563
179
Western Europe
2,651
1,152
142
Consumer average
2,209
967
231
Mobile Average
2,218
964
229
Source: Cisco Analysis, 2012
Appendix H: Broadband Ubiquity
Tables 9 and 10 summarize regional broadband penetration for 2011 and 2016. The methodology for the estimation of broadband and Internet ubiquity has changed since the initial release of the Global Cloud Index in 2011. This year, internal projections were used based on a bottom-up approach that includes estimating broadband lines and average users per household, and then validating the country estimates against country-specific telecom-reported data. On the mobile side, the approach focuses on mobile Internet users instead of subscriptions, which prevents duplicative calculations (as some users may have multiple subscriptions).
Table 9. Regional Broadband Penetration (Percentages Indicate Users with Broadband Access Per Region) in 2011
Region
Fixed Broadband
Subscriptions (2011)
Mobile Broadband
Users (2011)
Population (2011)
Asia Pacific
815,516,524 (21%)
627,271,466 (16%)
3,880,762,984
Central and Eastern Europe
92,426,466 (19%)
67,546,558 (14%)
491,195,658
Latin America
141,743,264 (23%)
79,083,243 (13%)
605,241,915
Middle East and Africa
223,884,843 (17%)
74,891,178 (6%)
1,305,228,573
North America
226,280,637 (63%)
106,975,042 (30%)
360,824,514
Western Europe
252,360,141 (58%)
111,968,203 (26%)
434,200,925
Source: Cisco Analysis, 2012
Table 10. Regional Broadband Penetration (Percentages Indicate Users with Broadband Access Per Region) in 2016
Region
Fixed Broadband Subscriptions (2016)
Mobile Broadband
Users (2016)
Population (2016)
Asia Pacific
1,130,347,660 (28%)
1,689,910,551 (42%)
4,066,889,702
Central and Eastern Europe
113,441,563 (23%)
210,862,009 (42%)
498,003,945
Latin America
178,876,168 (28%)
251,529,890 (39%)
639,071,873
Middle East and Africa
350,433,532 (24%)
426,103,680 (29%)
1,458,984,051
North America
232,197,863 (62%)
216,644,001 (58%)
376,433,836
Western Europe
269,376,918 (61%)
247,291,265 (56%)
442,819,648
Source: Cisco Analysis, 2012
Appendix I: Regional Download and Upload Peak Speeds
Download and upload peak speeds measured are shown in Table 11.
Table 11. Regional Download and Upload Peak Speeds
2Measured by Speedtest.net, small binary files are downloaded and uploaded between the web server and the client to estimate the connection speed in kilobits per second (kbps).
