At Cisco Live, the company’s annual IT and communications conference, Cisco today introduced new technology to increase the efficiency and security of cloud-based networks so that information can be delivered instantly, with industry-leading security, to more people, on more devices, in more locations.
Cisco’s cloud computing vision is to unite a world of many clouds— private, public, hybrid and community— providing connectivity to every mobile device, personal computer, tablet and TV, the company said. Based on borderless networks, these interconnected clouds represent the next phase in the evolution of the Internet, Cisco believes.
“When Cisco set out to design an evolutionary new computing system, we heard from our customers that power, management, and server administration costs were sapping their budgets, leaving few resources for innovation,” said Soni Jiandani, senior vice president, Server Access Virtualization Technology Group, Cisco. “We aimed to create the ideal, programmable, platform for virtualised and cloud environments with integrated networking and management, flexible and scalable enough to handle any workload. Now with over 5,400 UCS customers, Cisco’s rapid market share growth underscores our leadership in the industry transition to fabric computing and converged infrastructure, and we continue to deliver innovative technology to help solve our customers’ challenges.”
New additions to the Cisco product portfolio support three key cloud computing requirements: data centre virtualisation, network performance and security, and span the entire cloud infrastructure, from the end-user and branch office, through the network to the data centre. These additions include Cisco Unified Computing System (Cisco UCS) and Nexus switches for the data centre and cloud, the Cisco Wide Area Application Service (WAAS) for application performance optimisation, and Cisco IronPort Email Security.
Also, Cisco is now introducing VMware vCenter for the Cisco Unified Computing System and UCS Express on Cisco Integrated Services Routers (ISRs), a unified virtualisation management platform which enables IT organisations to organise, rapidly provision and configure the entire virtualised IT environment across branch offices and the data centre, the company said and is reported to enable customers reduce operating costs, improve operational automation, and deliver higher levels of security.
According to Cisco, the Unified Computing System unites compute, network, storage access, and virtualisation resources in a single energy efficient system. In less than two years, more than 5,400 customers spanning all industries and workloads have deployed the Cisco Unified Computing System, making it one of the world’s favorite foundations for building private and public clouds.
“Virtualisation, performance, and security are three of the most fundamental requirements for building and using clouds,” said Lew Tucker, chief technology officer of cloud computing for Cisco. “As the number and diversity of clouds grows, meeting these requirements through a common, unifying platform – in other words, the network – will help organisations from all industries communicate and access information more dynamically and securely, both within their own clouds and with other clouds that are relevant to their needs. Today’s technology developments across Cisco’s business represent the latest step in the company’s ongoing strategy to help customers build and use clouds effectively and safely. They reinforce the basic premise that the network makes clouds happen.”
