Underscoring the significant opportunity in the Indian data center market, Cisco today shared plans to grow and strengthen its market and technology leadership in the space. In addition, Cisco showcased its radically simplified approach with the Unified Computing System and the ‘fabric based computing’ approach.
Fabric based computing helps enable a "wire once" deployment model where changing configurations no longer means installing new components or re-cabling existing ones. It helps to reduce cost by eliminating the need for a parallel set of components to support multiple data transmission protocols. Along with the reduction in these infrastructure components on the server side, a similar reduction on the network edge is possible, further reducing costs.
“At Cisco, we aim to bring together network, compute and virtualization technologies into one unified system. We are confident of revolutionizing datacenter management by offering flexibility and taking advantage of the role that the network plays in addressing key aspects such as security, scalability and interoperability”, said Pramodh Menon, sr. vice president, Cisco India & SAARC.
Cisco also shared details of the second-generation Cisco Unified Computing SystemTM, which further accelerates the promise of virtualization, delivering a high performance computing architecture uniting compute, network, storage access, and virtualization resources in a single energy-efficient system. Cisco’s introduction of Unified Computing established a new industry standard for data center virtualization. With new compute, I/O, management and developer capabilities, the 2nd generation of Cisco UCS enables unparalleled scalability, breakthrough performance, and tangible business advantage. With these innovations, the Cisco® data center architecture now delivers:
•Up to four times the compute capacity in the same footprint, compared to first-generation Cisco Unified Computing System servers
•Up to four times the bandwidth capacity in the same footprint with the existing chassis, compared to first generation Cisco Unified Computing System
•Up to 92 percent fewer points of management than legacy networks
•Up to 30 percent greater application throughput with the Cisco Virtualized Interface Card
•Up to 76 percent greater database consolidation with Cisco memory extension
•Up to 10 percent reduced power consumption, compared with like-for-like competitive configurations
These results translate to reduced infrastructure complexity and sprawl, significantly reduced costs, and improved business agility. The solution delivers end-to-end optimization for virtualized environments. It is built to meet today's demands while being ready to accommodate future technologies – including more powerful processors and faster Ethernet standards – as they become available.
Some of Cisco’s recent initiatives in the Datacenter enables cloud computing:
•The shared, virtualized Cisco Data Center 3.0 architecture and solutions from Cisco and partners such as VMware, EMC and NetApp, lets enterprises build their own secure, scalable private clouds.
•Cisco, with its partners, is helping service providers deliver more secure private or virtual private cloud services to their customers. For example, Cisco, NetApp, and VMware recently announced they are working together to deliver greater security in virtualized cloud computing environments.
•The Cloud Security Alliance: a non-profit organization consisting of such corporate members as Cisco, AT&T, Computer Associates, Dell, Intel, Microsoft and RSA. The alliance promotes best practices for cloud computing security and offers education to consumers of cloud computing services. For example, the Cloud Security Alliance's March 2010 report, "Top Threats to Cloud Computing V1.0," offers a deep dive into the most prevalent cloud computing security risks, along with examples and strategies for avoiding or minimizing those threats.
• CloudAudit: formerly known as the Automated Audit, Assertion, Assessment and Assurance (A6) Working Group, CloudAudit is working to provide an open, extensible, secure Application Programming Interface (API). CloudAudit has over 250 members. When the API is ready, cloud providers will be able to offer customers visibility into security and other aspects of the cloud service on demand, without compromising the security of the cloud provider's network or any other customers using it.
IDC report titled ‘Next Phase of Datacenter Development’ predicts that capital savings around parts and the reduction in cabling, coupled with the operational savings will provide the need for more energy efficient datacenters paving the way for Unified Fabric
