Cisco expands next-gen data centre strategy

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Cisco has unveiled a new series of data-centre class switches called the Nexus 5000 Series, marking further movement in the push for next-generation data centres.

The Cisco Nexus 5000 will deliver line-rate, low latency, 10 Gigabit Ethernet as well as Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) switching. It will also be able to connect with the Cisco Nexus 7000 platform which was announced last January.

The product is a result of a deal with Nuova Systems, a start-up focused on developing next-generation products for the data centre. Cisco already owned 80 per cent, but confirmed along with the Nexus 5000 announcement that it was preparing to buy the extra 20 per cent.

It was all in aid of improving Cisco's concept of a network-enabled Data Centre 3.0 which was the company's plan to transform the data centre into a virtualised environment providing access anytime and anywhere to content at any location.

"Cisco's decades of switching innovation and expertise have it well poised to be the architect of the next-generation, network-centric data centre, a vision defined as Data Centre 3.0," said Mario Mazzola, president and chief executive of Nuova Systems.

"We expect the Nuova team to make significant contributions towards the realisation of this vision through products and technology that help enable data centre consolidation and virtualisation, while protecting customers' current data centre investments."

The Cisco Nexus 5000 Series pricing starts at $36,000 (£18,000) and is scheduled to be available in May 2008.

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