Cisco has introduced new solutions to help customers realise the Cisco Data Centre 3.0 vision for next-generation data centres.  The culmination of this is the introduction of the network platform for Data Centre 3.0, the Cisco Nexus Family of data-centre-class switches, and the expansion of the Cisco Catalyst Family. 

"With its Data Centre 3.0 vision, Cisco is transforming the data centre into a virtualised environment that revolutionises how organisations adopt new IT strategies and respond quickly to changing business needs,” said Jayshree Ullal, senior vice president of Cisco’s Data Centre, Switching and Services Group.  “The Cisco Nexus 7000 Series is the result of significant and pioneering internal innovation.  Combined with the 10-Gigabit Ethernet portfolio that the flagship Catalyst 6500 Series offers, Cisco provides customers with a smooth migration into a new era of data center networking.”

To address the evolution from Gigabit Ethernet to 10 Gigabit Ethernet for data centre access, Cisco now offers a data-centre-optimised 16-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet Module that claims to provide up to 130 ports of 10 Gigabit Ethernet per Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switch and 260 ports per Catalyst 6500 Virtual Switching System. 

Cisco also introduced the Cisco Catalyst 6509 Enhanced Vertical Chassis (V-E) as part of the Cisco Catalyst 6500-E Series Switches.  The Catalyst 6509-V-E chassis offers nine vertical slots with front-to-back airflow, which is a requirement for the hot-aisle/cold-aisle designs in modern data centre and service provider co-location deployments. 

The Cisco Catalyst 4900M Series is designed and optimised for the data centre rack-server aggregation.  The Catalyst 4900M Series offers transport flexibility with buffering for top-of-rack switching and mixing 10/100/1000 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports with up to 40 10/100/1000 ports or twenty-four 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports.