Comments on: How HP Can Fight Cisco And Win

By: HP: Positioning and Filling Holes for Data-Center Dominance « Twilight in the Valley of the Nerds

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:08:50 +0000

[...] still might make an acquisition of an emerging data-center switch vendor. Options would include those mentioned by Alan Leinwand earlier this year: Arista Networks, Blade Network Technologies, and Force 10/Turin Networks. If it chose to be more [...]

By: Dell Teams Up With Brocade to Tackle Cisco’s Vision for Computing

Dell Teams Up With Brocade to Tackle Cisco’s Vision for Computing — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 01:12:43 +0000

[...] still think if Dell wants to play with the big boys here it should stop partnering and start buying. The services required to sell a Dell/Brocade/Scalent package aren’t Dell’s strong [...]

By: Are Competitors Eating Into Cisco’s Core?

Are Competitors Eating Into Cisco’s Core? — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 13:50:06 +0000

[...] a similar comm-puting (communications-based computing) view of the IT landscape as Cisco. (Related: How HP can fight Cisco and win.) With further competition from lower-cost competitors such as Dell and some low-cost Asian [...]

By: Why Cisco Should Buy Dell

Why Cisco Should Buy Dell — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:02:04 +0000

[...] I’ve argued in the past, there are still other moves that HP could make to fend off Cisco in enterprise IT. But those would be rendered moot if Cisco decided to pull the ultimate offensive [...]

By: More networking acquisition rumors for HP - The Network Hub

More networking acquisition rumors for HP - The Network Hub — Mon, 11 May 2009 14:57:36 +0000

[...] the smaller high-performance networking vendors on the market. As GigaOM noted several months ago, Arista, Blade Network Technologies or Force10 would make a lot of sense. Comment RSS Feed [...]

By: Shocker! Cisco leads the pack in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for enterprise LAN - The Network Hub

Wed, 06 May 2009 01:31:44 +0000

[...] Gartner cautioned that ProCurve still lacks high-end core switches (An acquisition of a high end core switching vendor like Arista Networks or Blade Network Technologies would do the trick!). The company also needs to expand its channel for larger sales opportunities. ProCurve has in the [...]

By: Brocade Pokes Cisco in the Eye, Switches for IBM

Brocade Pokes Cisco in the Eye, Switches for IBM — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 04:01:37 +0000

[...] and re-established ties with HP may further enhance our earnings outlook.” (Related Posts: How HP can fight Cisco & Win; Cisco’s Data Center moves to spark M&A) [...]

By: James Nelson

James Nelson — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:53:31 +0000

Dell recently inked a deal with Xsigo. Of these startups these guys seem to be right time, right place and right technology. The whole capability these server companies lack are in the switching elements in both networking, storage and I/O Virtualization. Arista is just an ethernet switch – does not solve the storage piece and BNT is again an ethernet play – not sufficient. Where is the value add in taking commodity switching silicon and slapping it together.

I think it might be useful to understand the Xsigo solution better.

They use Infiniband for a 10/20/40G connection out of the server – but that is just connectivity fabric which is reliable. The operators on the server side see something that is familiar, easy to configure and simple — virtual ethernet and fibre-channel interfaces. This simplicity is key for the guys managing the servers.

Add many of these Xsigo virtual interfaces based on demand, bind them uniquely to your VMs, set QoS to guarantee bandwidth and performance, set the bandwidth per VM or per application, move these IOs from VM to VM, or server to server without ever re-wiring your rack.

This is quite sweet and one gets server utilization to pretty high numbers – as you have freed up the IO bottleneck.

Think of this as a converged fabric – without ever needing to throw away your ethernet and fibre-channel switches (unlike the new fangled FCoE). Xsigo is great for investment protection and consolidating your infrastructure – perfect for these difficult budget situations and tough economic conditions.

These guys seem to be getting traction in a marketplace where customers want to maximize server performance, keep their existing gear and get more juice from the existing deployments.

The XMS management piece is well integrated and their solution works with all VM vendors – VMWare, XEN, Microsoft’s Virtual Machine and multiple Operating Systems too. That is a powerful story.

By: How Dell Will Respond to Cisco’s Server Challenge | Online Buissnes

How Dell Will Respond to Cisco’s Server Challenge | Online Buissnes — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 07:16:43 +0000

[...] When I asked Becker if Dell was willing to step up and acquire companies to take the battle into Cisco’s camp, he said that the company’s preference is to partner with others as that offers more choices (it’s close relationship with eGenera is one example), but that it was willing to acquire companies in order to grow. My advice to Michael Dell and his crew: Start buying, and fast. There are lots of good companies out there, starting with eGenera and Arista Networks. If Dell doesn’t open its wallet, we’re pretty sure HP will. [...]

By: How Dell Will Respond to Cisco’s Server Challenge

How Dell Will Respond to Cisco’s Server Challenge — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:01:04 +0000

[...] out there, starting with eGenera and Arista Networks. If Dell doesn’t open its wallet, we’re pretty sure HP will. [...]