As anyone with a vested interest in cloud computing will know, the perception of the data centre has evolved considerably, from isolated resource centres to more connected pools, helping maximise IT efficiency.

Not surprisingly, with the potential available, the numbers are growing. 60% of server workloads are set to be virtualised by 2014, compared to only 12% in 2008m, with total investment in data centre infrastructure growing 5% on average year on year.

There are, of course, pros and cons to virtualisation, with companies continuing to balance out efficiency and agility against security considerations.

Network solutions provider Ciena, in an infographic, has stated that “the cloud is only as good as the network that supports it,” calling its solution a “data centre without walls”.

Find out the journey from data centre to cloud in the infographic below (click to enlarge):