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Following our launch of the Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI), we continue with our series exploring in more detail key aspects of the ACI policy model and partner ecosystem. In Part 1 of my series on ACI, we looked at why application policies were an ideal model to build infrastructure automation around, and how application policies are better suited to mirror business objectives and requirements than traditional IT infrastructure policies. The key benefits for customers end up being vastly greater degrees of automation, process improvement and business agility.

In Part 2, we looked into one example of the difficulty in deploying and managing applications and the level of complexity that must be overcome to truly automate application-oriented tasks: application-specific network services and security policies (as well as a separate post on the partner ecosystem for application services and security solutions that support the ACI model).

In this Part 3, we’ll look at one of the components of the ACI fabric that we also announced, the Application Virtual Switch (AVS). We’ve received a number of follow-on questions in this area that can be addressed here. By way of introduction, I had the chance to sit down with AVS and Nexus 1000V Director of Product Management, Balaji Sivasubramanian to talk about the new AVS and how it relates to both ACI and the Nexus 1000V virtual switch (Balaji also had a related post on AVS):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbUho9Kdnxs

But wait, there’s more…  Continue reading “Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) and the Application Virtual Switch (AVS)”



Authors

Gary Kinghorn

Sr Solution Marketing Manager

Network Virtualization and SDN

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SAP®HANATM is a next-generation database platform for real-time analytics and applications. Although the in-memory, columnar relational database debuted only recently (in June 2011), it has quickly become the fastest growing product in the history of
SAP AG. Already proven enormously successful for analytics, SAP HANA now supports SAP Business Suite, SAP’s flagship enterprise resource planning (ERP) application. It has also been identified as the focus for innovation for SAP. To prepare for
this eventuality, enterprises are considering ways to make SAP HANA “data center-ready.”

Since SAP HANA is the fastest growing product in SAP history, the data center needs to be trusted as well. Here is a chart on the requirements of SAP as it relates to SAP HANA

The Five Essential Characteristics of a SAP HANA Hardware Platform

SAP_HANA_whitepaper_22Oct2013_Figure1

Find the full story about how SAP HANA users are choosing the Unified Computing System server platform to build their trusted data center in this comprehensive white paper.



Authors

Rick Speyer

No Longer with Cisco

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sergipe_mapThis week, Cisco launched its newest CSR program – Connected Healthy Children – Brazil.

Much of the Brazilian population lives far away from major cities, so distance can pose a real barrier for children who need specialized medical care. For example, 41 percent of all infants under age 1 and 90 percent of newborns with congenital heart disease are in remote areas.

Connected Healthy Children – Brazil is intended to help reduce the disparity of access to specialized care between urban and rural areas. In the northeastern state of Sergipe, Cisco is partnering with the state’s only University Hospital in Aracaju to support remote consultations for patients and families, and also improve education, training, and decision-making for care teams.

Advanced telepresence and collaboration systems and cloud technology will connect Family Health Clinics in Tobias Barreto and Lagarto with pediatric specialists at the Federal Medical University campus in Lagarto and the University Hospital in Aracaju. A team enabled with mobile technology will provide specialist access to even more remote areas.

The launch event on November 4, 2013 at the Federal University of Sergipe was attended by approximately 150 people in person and remotely via Cisco TelePresence video conferencing solution – one of the technologies being deployed for Connected Healthy Children – Brazil.

We will report more on the impact we are having on children’s healthcare in Brazil in the coming months. Please follow Cisco CSR on FacebookTwitter, and Google+ to stay informed!



Authors

Alexis Raymond

Senior Manager

Chief Sustainability Office

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partnersWhen Cisco designed the concept of an Application Centric Infrastructure, we knew it wouldn’t reach its full potential without drawing in a very comprehensive ecosystem in a number of areas. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of our announcement was the breadth, quality and scope of the data center infrastructure vendors that we aligned so quickly with our ACI vision and that contributed their perspectives to the launch, and will be contributing key solutions to Cisco’s infrastructure-wide vision.

Yesterday, I blogged about the role of application controllers, network monitoring solutions, WAN optimization, firewalls, etc. have in setting up application networks, provisioning applications, and how the ACI policy model incorporates these security and services solutions. I wanted to follow up that post with some highlights from the support we received from some of our ACI ecosystem vendors in this area, that incorporate ACI policy support into their security, application delivery controller, load balancing and other solutions.

Continue reading “Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) Includes Strong Ecosystem for Security and Network Services”



Authors

Gary Kinghorn

Sr Solution Marketing Manager

Network Virtualization and SDN

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Many thanks to the crew at LBL for hosting my talks yesterday.  There were many insightful questions and comments throughout both talks.

Here’s the slides from my first talk, entitled “(Open) MPI, Parallel Computing, Life, the Universe, and Everything.”  This is a general MPI/Open MPI talk, where I discussed the current state of Open MPI, and then talked in detail about two of Open MPI’s newest features: the MPI-3 “MPI_T” tools interface, and Open MPI’s flexible process affinity system.

Continue reading “Lawrence Berkeley Labs talk: (Open) MPI, Parallel Computing, Life, the Universe, and Everything”



Authors

Jeff Squyres

The MPI Guy

UCS Platform Software

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Social media strategies differ for all companies and we all know the key to social is to have great content to amplify. So what happens when you have a team that not only produces great content but also has great social media tactics? Awards! Congratulations to Cisco’s Corporate Communications Social Media team for two big wins. Our small and mighty team of 11 won two PR News Awards. One for “Best Podcast-Videocast” for the “My Networked Life: True Stories from a Connected World” video series and the other for “Digital PR Team of the Year.”

PR News States: “Cisco Systems’ team is a tour de force of organized, systematic, digital innovation. The company’s core objective, creating continuous innovation, is seen in many ways. The team of 11 employees combines that objective—innovation—with an initiative to reach and connect with a broader audience, and position Cisco as a thought leader in the digital space.”

Our team takes a different approach to what we do – using a brand journalism model we focus on great storytelling and creative social amplification. Together we think it’s a winning combination. See for yourself here on The Network, Cisco’s Technology News Site.

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Authors

Joie Healy

Director

Corporate Communications

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Every server manufacturer has a Server TCO tool, of sorts. Why do I say “of sorts”? Because rather than a straightforward approach to TCO, some tools color the input parameters with fixed pre-sets, conditions and assumptions. Certainly every tool has some assumptions and pre-sets; they just need to be applied equitably across all scenarios and all vendors. If not, you get results that “…would strain credulity…” in the immortal words of Captain Barbossa [Pirates of the Caribbean – At World’s End; my daughters love these movies. OK, me too.]

Continue reading “Server TCO Tools – Everybody Has One and They Are Different.”



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Cyber Crime: Identifying the Sources of an Everyday Threat

Cyber crimes, cyber thievery, and cyber warfare have become an everyday reality. In fact, security breaches are so prevalent that, according to a new study from the National Cyber Security Alliance and a private sector firm, 26 percent of Americans have been the victims of a data breach in the past 12 months alone. Not only do breaches reduce citizens’ trust in government to protect their confidential data, they also cost government agencies a significant amount of money. For most CIOs and other government keepers of data, these statistics prompt one immediate question – “Can this happen to us?” Unfortunately, the answer to this question is: yes, it can. Continue reading “Cybersecurity: Where are the Biggest Threats?”



Authors

Patrick Finn

No Longer at Cisco