Cisco upgrades Catalyst, Nexus for 100 and 40 GbE

BANGALORE, INDIA: Networking vendor Cisco updated its Catalyst and Nexus switching portfolios with 100 Gigabit Ethernet (GE) and 40 GE capabilities.

These new capabilities provide an architectural approach across campus, data centre and service provider environments, and give customers a significant advantage while addressing emerging trends such as cloud, video, mobility, and the proliferation of 10 GE, said the company in a release.

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Cisco would offer investment protection with 40 GE performance options to its Catalyst 6500 switching line, and 40 GE and 100 GE capabilities in its Nexus 7000 portfolio for interconnecting data centres to service providers. 

To expand its campus aggregation and data centre top of rack switching, Cisco also announced two new fixed-configuration platforms that provide high-density 10 GE switching.

Cisco also announced network virtualization functionality for its Catalyst 6500, 4500 and Aggregation Services Router (ASR) 1000 product lines with a new technology called Easy Virtual Network, as well as scalable virtual services with a new Nexus 1010-X appliance for the data centre.

Data Centre Switching

40/100 Gigabit Ethernet capabilities for the Cisco Nexus 7000 data centre switch.

Cisco offers two versions of the new M2-Series modules for the Nexus 7000. Nexus 7000 M2-Series 2-port, 100 GbE Module with XL Option delivers up to 32 high- density, non-blocking  100 GE ports for the Nexus 7000.

And Nexus 7000 M2-Series 6-port 40 GbE Module with XL Option provides 96 non-blocking 40 GE ports for the Nexus 7000.

Nexus 3064-X switch is a high-performance, high-density, ultra-low-latency Ethernet switch that is part of the new Cisco Nexus 3000 series switches, the release adds.

Virtual Extensible LAN or VXLANs are now supported on Nexus 1000V,  radically scaling the number of LAN segments that can be created over cloud networks to logically separate tenants and applications in the cloud.

Cisco Virtual Security Gateway (VSG) is extended to protect applications on VXLAN-based cloud networks. To meet cloud's growing scale requirements, Nexus 1000V will be scaling to more than 10 thousand ports in the future.

Cisco Nexus 1010-X Virtual Services Appliance offers a dedicated hardware platform for scalable deployment of services critical to virtualization infrastructure.

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Campus Switching

Cisco also expanded its Catalyst family of campus network switches to give network managers a wider array of options to address expanding networking needs such as video, virtualized desktops and cloud computing.

Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series 40 Gigabit Ethernet Interface Module offers future investment protection to the Catalyst 6500 Series line-up.

Each slot on the module can be converted to four ports of 10 GE with a FourX adapter. This enables customers to deploy 10 GE to meet current needs and be ready to transition to 40 GE without disruption.

Cisco Catalyst 6500 E Series chassis are now validated to support full 160 gigabits per slot throughput in active/active mode, which will support higher bandwidth and port densities, while allowing for easy future upgrades.

Cisco Catalyst 4500-X Switch is a fixed aggregation 1RU switch targeted at space-constrained campus networks that delivers network virtualization, and integrated network services.

Operational Efficiencies

Cisco Easy Virtual Network (EVN) simplifies network virtualization on the Catalyst 6500, Catalyst 4500, and ASR1000 Series platforms. EVN simplifies the creation of separate logical networks on a single physical infrastructure, and is fully compatible with VRF-lite and interoperable with MPLS-VRFs and other technologies.

Cisco NX-OS Software provides a feature set for Cisco Nexus switching platforms that deliver exceptional operational flexibility and efficiency. Cisco is adding new capabilities in NX-OS to enable programmability and automation in data centre workflows. Several new features in NX-OS software, including PowerOn.

Auto-Provisioning and Python scripting to customize network behaviour based on events as they happen, simplify configuration, and harness network intelligence. These features are now available on Cisco Nexus 3000 Series platforms, with support on Nexus 2000 and 5000 Series platforms to follow.

Cisco Catalyst SmartOperations is a comprehensive set of tools integrated in Cisco Catalyst switching platforms that automate deployment, deliver monitoring capabilities, and simplify troubleshooting. 

Cisco Data Center Network Manager (DCNM) provides a converged LAN and storage operational dashboard, bringing visibility and advanced diagnostic capabilities into the virtualized data centre or cloud, resulting in reduced total cost of ownership. DCNM can now be hosted as a virtual service blade on Nexus 1010 virtual services appliances.