Consider this – 3D printing is accomplished by creating micro-thin layers of a product. This means the designs for even a simple product take up a massive amount of digital space. And those designs will be stored and shared over a network. 3D data transportation demands will be so large; we can probably forget about 1 Gbps Ethernet. Think 10 Gbps, 40 Gbps, 100 Gbps and beyond.
Manufacturers will need to store, transport and protect the 3D design data with Big Data companies like Cisco.
Solutions like Cisco’s MDS series can provide Storage Area Networking, and the Nexus 7000sand 5000s can transport enormous amounts of data to the 3D printers.
Since 3D printing will put a manufacturer’s proprietary designs on the network, the designs will need to be protected. Cisco Secure-X framework provides for perimeter security while Cisco Storage Media Encryption enables security in the data center.
3D printing will effect big changes in manufacturing delivery models. We may or may not have 3D printers in our homes, but it willl require an amazingly robust and intelligent network.
Read more on Cisco’s manufacturing blog…
September 14, 2012
3D Printing, Additive Manufacturing, American Manufacturing Renaissance, Made In America, Technology