Comments on: Cisco Switches 10G, Makes Play For Data Centers http://gigaom.com/2008/01/27/cisco-nexus-data-center/ Tracking the Internet Evolution Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:31:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=MU By: Aquantia gets $26M for 10 Gig-E Chips - GigaOM http://gigaom.com/2008/01/27/cisco-nexus-data-center/#comment-861512 Aquantia gets $26M for 10 Gig-E Chips - GigaOM Thu, 14 Feb 2008 23:42:20 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=11306#comment-861512 <p>[...] folks such as Google are making do with custom-built switches, and larger vendors such as Cisco are eying the [...]</p> [...] folks such as Google are making do with custom-built switches, and larger vendors such as Cisco are eying the [...]

]]> By: Omar Sultan http://gigaom.com/2008/01/27/cisco-nexus-data-center/#comment-859176 Omar Sultan Fri, 01 Feb 2008 03:09:22 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=11306#comment-859176 <p>Fazal:</p> <p>While I agree that "virtualization" is ridiculously overused, there is actually something to it in this case. The Nexus platform supports something called Virtual Device Contexts. Essentially, NX-OS provides hypervisor like functionally to host multiple logical switches on the physical platform. This ability to support fully independent switches offers the same types of benefits you might expect from server virtualization including improved utilization, fault containment, and the ability to run disparate environments (i.e. production and dev) on the same hardware.</p> Fazal:

While I agree that “virtualization” is ridiculously overused, there is actually something to it in this case. The Nexus platform supports something called Virtual Device Contexts. Essentially, NX-OS provides hypervisor like functionally to host multiple logical switches on the physical platform. This ability to support fully independent switches offers the same types of benefits you might expect from server virtualization including improved utilization, fault containment, and the ability to run disparate environments (i.e. production and dev) on the same hardware.

]]> By: Fazal Majid http://gigaom.com/2008/01/27/cisco-nexus-data-center/#comment-858659 Fazal Majid Tue, 29 Jan 2008 06:11:32 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=11306#comment-858659 <p>The (mis)use of the "virtualization" is just blather to doll up the product intro. Virtualization software like VMWare is perfectly capable of virtualizing one physical LAN connection into multiple virtual LAN interfaces, any switch can support that. Better NICs like Sun's Crossbow make the process more efficient, but once again that is completely transparent to the network.</p> <p>The big news is the core switching fabric upgrade. The Catalyst 6500 has been upgraded over time from its original 8Gbps per line card limit, but is clearly on its last legs, and increasingly hoary compared to products from Foundry or Force10. The Nexus removes the core switching bottleneck, but also removes the advanced routing, server acceleration or security functionality in the 6500 line that is the main justification for its premium pricing.</p> The (mis)use of the “virtualization” is just blather to doll up the product intro. Virtualization software like VMWare is perfectly capable of virtualizing one physical LAN connection into multiple virtual LAN interfaces, any switch can support that. Better NICs like Sun’s Crossbow make the process more efficient, but once again that is completely transparent to the network.

The big news is the core switching fabric upgrade. The Catalyst 6500 has been upgraded over time from its original 8Gbps per line card limit, but is clearly on its last legs, and increasingly hoary compared to products from Foundry or Force10. The Nexus removes the core switching bottleneck, but also removes the advanced routing, server acceleration or security functionality in the 6500 line that is the main justification for its premium pricing.

]]> By: James http://gigaom.com/2008/01/27/cisco-nexus-data-center/#comment-858567 James Mon, 28 Jan 2008 14:16:11 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=11306#comment-858567 <p>Typo in your title (doh!)</p> Typo in your title (doh!)

]]> By: Between the Lines mobile edition http://gigaom.com/2008/01/27/cisco-nexus-data-center/#comment-858509 Between the Lines mobile edition Mon, 28 Jan 2008 05:28:17 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=11306#comment-858509 <p>[...] also: News.com, GigaOm, InformationWeek, [...]</p> [...] also: News.com, GigaOm, InformationWeek, [...]

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