Cisco rolled out a series of updates and enhancements across its Data Center Business Advantage portfolio, including the Cisco Nexus 7000 family and Nexus 5000 Series, the new ultra-low latency platform Cisco Nexus 3000, Cisco MDS storage switches, the Cisco Unified Computing System, the Cisco Data Center Network Manager, and Cisco NX-OS, the comprehensive data center operating system that spans the Cisco data center portfolio.
Cisco said its vision continues to be on the tight integration of its Unified Fabric, Unified Computing, and Unified Network Services into a holistic data center fabric. The goal is "wire once", allowing multiple data centers and cloud services to be connected across a common intelligent fabric.
Some highlights:
New Cisco Nexus 5548UP, Nexus 5596UP switches -- Unified Port (UP) capability on all ports for these 48- and 96-port data center switches enable information technology managers to designate any port to be 1 Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel (2/4/8 gigabits) or Fibre Channel over Ethernet. These switches support Layer 2/3, provide support for IEEE 802.1Qbh, and are FabricPath-ready.
New Cisco Nexus 3000 Series Switches -- offering low latency (less than 1usec port to port), in a high-density 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch for specific markets, such as high-frequency trading applications, where low latency is the No. 1 requirement. The one-rack-unit switch supports Layer 2/3 wire-rate switching and a wide range of routing protocols within the Cisco NX-OS operating system.
Fabric Extender Technology (FEX) -- enables customers to build a single, modular fabric that extends from Cisco Nexus switches to Cisco Unified Computing System servers to adapters and to virtual machines. The design flexibility, reduced cabling infrastructure, and simplified management have resulted in equipment and operational savings of up to 50 percent for the more than 5,000 customers who have deployed the Cisco FEX architecture. Today Cisco introduced three additions to its fabric extension portfolio, all based on the IEEE 802.1Qbh emerging standard: Adapter FEX, VM-FEX (virtual machine) and FEX Support for Nexus 7000.
Director-Class Multi-hop Fibre Channel over Ethernet -- Cisco is introducing end-to-end data center convergence from server to storage by delivering new director-class, multi-hop Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) capability for the Nexus 7000 data center switch platform and the MDS 9500 storage switching platform, adding to existing FCoE functionality on the Nexus 5000 switch platform. Cisco provides Unified Fabric support to both the access and core network layers, supporting all storage traffic (Fibre Channel, FCoE, iSCSI, and NAS) over simplified infrastructure based on lossless 10-Gigabit Ethernet.
End-to-End Management With Cisco Data Center Network Manager -- enables SAN, LAN, and server teams to cohesively manage converged end-to-end data center networks up to 150,000 ports, and offers tight integration with VMware vCenter for provisioning, performance, and trouble-shooting.
Scaling the Internet and Enabling Cloud Services with LISP and MPLS on the Nexus 700 -- The Nexus 7000 supports MPLS for Layer 3 VPNs to help enable a highly secure, cloud-ready network infrastructure, and an industry first: Location/ID Separation Protocol. LISP is an IP routing and addressing architecture initiated by Cisco. IT managers can take advantage of LISP to enable highly agile networks for workload mobility; cloud enablement; the transition to IPv6; and scalable multi-tenancy.
Additions for the Cisco Catalyst 6500 series -- including a new Application Control Engine ACE30 module for dynamic workload scaling with Cisco Overlay Transport Virtualization which provides 54 percent higher performance for application delivery; a new ES40 module with 40 gigabit line-rate performance for high-performance Data Center Interconnect, and a new ASA Service module offering embedded firewall and security services.
New MDS 9000 Storage Media Encryption fabric service -- offers highly secure media encryption for disks as well as tapes to meet security requirements for regulatory compliance, and requires no SAN reconfiguration.
Nexus 1010 provides an NX-OS based appliance platform for hosting virtual services -- this platform now supports two additional services: the Cisco Virtual Security Gateway which provides VM-level segmentation in a multi-tenant virtualized data center, and the Cisco Data Center Network Management Center.
Cisco noted that it now has more than 4,000 Unified Computing System (UCS) customers.
http://www.cisco.com
a leading metro fiber network and bandwidth service provider, completed its previously announced acquisition of Open Access Inc., a provider of diverse, cost-effective, customized end-to-end communications solutions, based in Farmingdale, NY.
is a $40 billion company that for the last decade has seen a virtual explosion in market opportunity but that must now regain the discipline it had in earlier days and re-focus, writes John Chambers in a message to Cisco employees that was posted on the company blog.
announced that three new service providers selected its PTN solution in March 2011 for migration from their legacy SONET/SDH networks to future-proof packet based networks. The initial purchases placed by all three service providers are for immediate deployments. Two providers are based in the Caribbean and Latin America and the third is in Eastern Europe. Customer names and financial terms were not disclosed.
announced that it will not seek a mobile license in Syria, despite having earlier qualified to participate in the bidding process. Etisalat said terms and conditions of the bid would not enable it to achieve its objectives regarding the technology and value it wishes to bring to the market nor for its investors and shareholders.
reported total revenue for the fourth quarter of 2010 was $390.3 million, an increase of $14.5 million, or 4%, compared to the year-ago period. Adjusted EBITDA was $59.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2010 compared to $43.3 million in the year-ago period. Net loss for the fourth quarter 2010 was $6.5 million compared to $13.3 million net income for the year-ago period. The company said its Q4 net loss was primarily due to a $20.0 million impairment charge related to its LMDS licenses.
has acquired the 33% stake in Vodafone Essar that was held by Essar. This will result in a total cash payment of US$5 billion to Essar. Final settlement is anticipated to be no later than November 2011. Vodafone Group's noted that its published net debt figure already includes this US$5 billion. Vodafone's stake in Vodafone Essar is now expected to exceed 75%.http://www.vodafone.com
which advances the use of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, as a Principal member. CSR and Intel, formerly Associate Members, have raised their membership status to the Principal level. The NFC Forum has also welcomed 31 additional member from across the ecosystem, including silicon companies, certification labs, software developers and major manufacturers.http://www.nfc-forum.org
Standards Board has approved IEEE 802.16m, which incorporates advanced communications technologies such as multi-user MIMO, multicarrier operation, and cooperative communications. It supports femto-cells, self-organizing networks, and relays. Major worldwide governmental and industrial organizations, including ARIB, TTA, and the WiMAX Forum, are adopting this standard.
NTT provided the following update on its efforts to restore services following the Tohoku-Pacific Ocean Earthquake that occurred on March 11, 2011.
http://bit.ly/dMj0kmhttp://www.nbnco.com.au
has activated its first 50 customers for its Super-fast broadband in Cornwall. The rollout is part of the £132 million super-fast broadband scheme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The company said about six months after the signing of the contract, its Openreach local network business has already installed more than 150 kilometres of optical fibre cable – equivalent to more than the length of Cornwall.http://www.btplc.com
introduced its latest StrataXGS Ethernet switching chip optimized for high-capacity mobile backhaul platforms. The StrataXGS BCM56440 switch, which is implemented in 40nm CMOS, integrates the functionality of up to seven off-the-shelf application-specific standard parts (ASSPs), eliminating the need for power-hungry network processing units (NPUs) and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). 
will deploy 7,000 base stations (BTS) from Nokia Siemens Networks in several Italian regions, including Veneto, Trentino Alto Adige, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Emilia Romagna, Marche and Umbria. The companies have already tested LTE in some areas of Turin. Financial terms were not disclosed.
to support precise timing and synchronization requirements for 4G/LTE deployments that ensure seamless integration for service provider networks. Initial members include leading network equipment suppliers and silicon developers.
has been named a supplier of network connectivity products for the Australian government's National Broadband Network (NBN) program. Specifically, NBN Co has awarded a five-year, $400 million contract to TE Connectivity with an initial purchase commitment of $100 million. This contract award follows TE Connectivity's and ADC's supply to date of more than $4 million of passive optical equipment into NBN Co's First Release sites, which are currently well under construction. TE Connectivity acquired ADC in December, 2010.
