In today's data-driven world, IT infrastructure providers face the dual challenge of delivering high performance while maintaining sustainability. As the world’s largest IT infrastructure services provider, Kyndryl knows this all too well. With its recent adoption of the HPE Aruba Networking CX 10000 Switch Series powered by AMD Pensando™ DPUs, Kyndryl is transforming its approach to data center management and setting new benchmarks for both security and sustainability.
Reimagining how data is managed and moved
Kyndryl’s experience in designing and managing mission-critical IT environments spans three decades. This expertise has allowed the company to build strong partnerships with leading technology providers and deliver innovative solutions to some of the world’s largest enterprises. With the increasing demand for multi-cloud access and the rise of the distributed workforce, Kyndryl has a keen focus on how data is moved and managed.
To address these demands, Kyndryl’s strategy revolves around three key elements:
- Software-defined, cloud-managed security across digital capabilities.
- Consistent management across clouds, data centers, and edge environments.
- A technology-agnostic approach to network connectivity.
As businesses increasingly prioritize low-latency operations and seamless access to hyperscalers, Kyndryl’s approach aims to simplify complex IT environments while delivering greater agility and security.
Building a future-ready global network
At the heart of Kyndryl’s transformation is its NextGen Global Network Peering Platform, which consolidates data center hubs across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. By centralizing these hubs and creating a global peering platform, Kyndryl is building a single pane of glass for provisioning and monitoring on‑premises and cloud networks.
This reimagining of data centers requires rethinking everything from power consumption to bandwidth to security. Older data centers relied on equipment that, while reliable, consumes vast amounts of energy and space. “The power consumption of our old routers was through the roof,” explains Markus Voegele, Kyndryl’s Infrastructure Cloud Architect. As energy costs rise, maintaining these legacy systems has become unsustainable.
Limiting appliance sprawl
Kyndryl’s new infrastructure, powered by the HPE Aruba Networking CX 10000 Switch Series, provides a next-gen solution path. The CX 10000 with AMD Pensando is a new category of data center switch, that combines best-of-breed L2/3 switching with the industry's first hardware-accelerated services processor. With that design and processor, many vital network services — such as firewalling — run directly on the switch, so the services are distributed throughout the network. This results in fewer separate firewalls and limits appliance sprawl.
The HPE Aruba Networking CX 10000 switches drastically reduce power consumption and space requirements, enabling Kyndryl to handle the increased demand for data transport without straining resources. "Where we used to have a 10 Gbps connection, now 100 Gbps is the standard,” says Voegele, noting the increased capacity and efficiency of the company’s new architecture.
Setting new standards in security, performance, and sustainability
The HPE Aruba Networking CX 10000 Switch Series is more than just an upgrade — it represents a shift in how Kyndryl manages data center performance and security. These switches provide more than 400G of IPsec end-to-end encryption capacity, a tenfold improvement over previous routers. This not only boosts security but also reduces the attack surface for customers, making it easier to manage network security infrastructure.
By incorporating features such as inline Layer 4 stateful firewalling, DDoS protection, and micro-segmentation services, Kyndryl’s data centers are now more secure and scalable than ever before. The ability to encrypt east-west traffic while reducing unnecessary north-south traffic improves application performance and ensures the security of customer workloads. For industries such as financial services where data privacy is critical, this level of segmentation and visibility is a game-changer.
Kyndryl's shift to this technology not only enhances customer experiences but also contributes to a more sustainable business model. With the CX 10000 switch series, Kyndryl has reduced power consumption by a factor of nine and saved space by a factor of 20. These reductions translate into significant cost savings — and support Kyndryl’s long-term sustainability goals.
The road ahead
With the roll-out of the HPE Aruba Networking CX 10000 Switch Series already underway, starting in North America and soon expanding to Europe and Asia Pacific, Kyndryl is positioning itself at the forefront of modern data center performance. The platform’s ability to scale with customer demand and handle more extensive workloads without compromising efficiency allows Kyndryl to meet the evolving needs of its demanding, global customer base.
As Voegele puts it, “We now have even more headroom, flexibility, and control to deliver services to customers.” By redefining what’s possible in data center performance and sustainability, Kyndryl is setting new standards for the future of IT infrastructure.
Read the complete Kyndryl case study.
Watch the Kyndryl conversation video.
Learn more about the HPE Aruba Networking CX 10000 Switch Series.
