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A long time ago I got asked to write about how to use Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) for distance. After all, we were getting the same question over and over:

What is the distance limitation for FCoE?

Now, the short answer for this can be checking out various data sheets for the Nexus 2000, Nexus 5500, Nexus 6000, Nexus 7000, or MDS 9X00 product lines. But it didn’t answer the most obvious follow-up questions: “Why?” and “How?”

Problem is, whenever you start talking about extending your storage connectivity over distance, there are many things to consider, including some things that many storage administrators (or architects) may not always remember to think about. The more I thought about this (and the longer it took to write down the answers), the more I realized that there needed to be a good explanation for how this worked.

Red_Propeller_Cap_clothing_icon_ID_407Generally speaking, the propeller spins the ‘other way’ when it comes to storage distance.

To that end, I began writing down the things that affect the choice for selecting a distance solution, which involves more than just a storage protocol. And so the story grew. And grew. And then grew some more. And if you’ve ever read any blogs I’ve written on the Cisco site you’ll know I’m not known for my brevity to begin with! So, bookmark this article as a reference instead of general “light reading,” and with luck things will be clearer than when we started. Continue reading “Storage Distance by Protocol – FC, FCoE, and FCIP, Part I”



Authors

J Metz

Sr. Product Manager

Data Center Group

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The software defined network has become all the rage lately for reasons that seem to vary and are caught up in interesting perceptions.  One view was that it allowed a single network to be controlled centrally and divided up logically to prevent different groups from interfering with one another, well that’s true.  Another view is that it provides a central place of management that configures and monitors the network for performance and faults, well that is true.

The basis is really the separation of the control plane (configuration and management) onto a server that centrally controls many network nodes.  From the data plane which are the switches and routers that pass the data for the application from one end device to another, or many.  The SDN controller communicates over a secure communications path using an API supported by the network device.

Yet what may be the most significant possibility of SDN is the ability to use programmatic control from the very applications that use the network for transport to stipulate any number of services that application needs from the network.  We are seeing this in data centers that will allow end user departments to define a complete network for say ERP from within the ERP application and no help from IT.  Why not for controls?  And since SDN is based on open source initiatives the ability for anyone to create and market applications for say a controls system is very real. Continue reading “Industrial Grade SDN”



Authors

Dave Cronberger

Infrastructure Architect

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On August 15, 2013, Brian Krebs featured a screen shot of a fake Outlook webmail login page used by the Syrian Electronic Army in a phishing attack against the Washington Post. If you look carefully at the location bar, you will note that the domain used in the phishing attack is ‘webmail.washpost.site88.net’.

Washington Post Phishing Attack Page

Continue reading “The Phishing Grounds”



Authors

Jaeson Schultz

Technical Leader

Cisco Talos Security Intelligence & Research

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In my last blog I discussed how Cisco ONE Enterprise Networks Architecture fits with the Cisco ONE. Let’s now look at how the new Cisco ONE Enterprise Architecture provides at least 6 significant benefits to Enterprises. ONE + ONE = 6!

Problems that Enterprises are facing:

As enterprises are consolidating their IT infrastructure into private cloud (enterprise data-centers) or public/hybrid clouds they’re realizing massive economies of scale in application deployments. Further, they’re taking advantage of XaaS (Software/Infrastructure as a Service) offerings from Cloud Service Providers with Pay As You Go models that increase the speed of deployment and the agility of their business critical applications. This is a major shift in how applications are now being delivered over the WAN to their end-users in branch offices and on mobile/BYOD devices. IT consolidation and virtualization in the data-center are placing a lot of requirements on the enterprise WAN. Business agility and end-user and customer application experience are imposing critical requirements on the WAN. The major challenges that enterprises are facing with cloud migration are: Continue reading “ONE + ONE = 6: The New Enterprise Programmability Math”



Authors

Satish Katpally

Senior Marketing Manager

Application Centric Infrastructure, SDN, ONE Software Suites

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Presidents Carter, Clinton, and Obama
Presidents Carter, Clinton, and Obama

It is with much excitement that I write this blog post – a first for me – on the Cisco Inclusion and Diversity blog.  On August 27th I traveled from San Jose, CA to Washington D.C. to attend the 50th anniversary and commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic I Have a Dream speech held at the Lincoln Memorial.  Hopefully, many of you were able to watch the event, as it was truly a wonderful celebration of Dr. King’s legacy.  What I want to share with you is what I experienced being there on Wednesday, August 28, 2013 – standing in line at 7:00 am, through the event’s conclusion that afternoon.

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Standing in line all morning really paid off! We got great seats!

I arrived at the gate to the entrance of the event for individuals with tickets right around 7:00 am.  There were only a few of us there – myself, a group of what appeared to be three friends, a woman who was alone, and volunteers that were beginning to file in in white shirts and khaki pants. I immediately asked security if I was at the correct location and showed him my ticket.  He replied that I was in the right place, and that I should stand in line until they started letting people into the event at 9:00 am.

During the two hour wait I learned that one of the women in line was named Mo.  Mo was beaming with joy. It was Mo’s birthday, and she said there was no place she would rather be than at this event.  Two of the others in line were Andrea and Donna.  Andrea is a PhD student, and Donna is her friend – they sing in the church choir together.

In time we all began to talk – about from where we’d traveled, why we’d come, about trying to stay dry in the rain… It did start to rain, but we barely noticed.  Soon the press began to arrive.  There was a small group of female reporters standing close to us. They were from a radio station in Nassau, Bahamas, GEMS 105.9. The stations website promotes “Strengthening our WOMEN, and uplifting our MEN”.  One of the station’s DJ’s – Ghandi- asked if she could interview us, and asked each of us why we were there.  My response – “ I am a woman, I am black, I am a mother, and I work in Inclusion and Diversity.  Equal rights are always top of mind for me.  I am here to celebrate the work and sacrifices made by Dr. King and countless others involved in the civil rights movement.  I am here to reflect on the progress that has been made over the past 50 years.  I am here because Continue reading “My Experience at the Commemoration of MLK’s I Have a Dream Speech”



Authors

Tamara Andrews

HR Manager

Human Resources Leadership Program

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In order for government and enterprise organizations to keep their data secure from increasingly advanced cyber threats, security solutions and protocols are critical. However, these organizations must ensure that their chosen security solutions meet key security criteria, are standards based, perform as expected and interoperate reliably with existing technology.

The challenges above are why Common Criteria was created. Common Criteria is an international standard for IT product security and reliability. In fact, many governments will not use security products that don’t meet Common Criteria standards.

This year, the International Common Criteria Conference is being held in Orlando, Florida from September 10-12. The conference is a place for Certification Bodies, Evaluation Laboratories, Researchers, Evaluators, Product Makers and Buyers and Sellers to come together and exchange ideas in order to improve Common Criteria.

Cisco will lead multiple sessions covering topics like Cryptography, Network Device Protection Profiles, Improving Common Criteria and Marketing Common Criteria.

Details on the speaking sessions presented by and in collaboration with Cisco are below:

  • Keynote Speaker: CCUF Perspective

September 11 from 9-9:30AM ET

Alicia Squires, Cisco, CCUF Chair

  • Marketing the New CC

September 11 from 9:30-11AM ET

Moderator: Mark Loepker, NIAP, CCES Chair

Panelists: Joshua Brickman, Oracle; Jen Gilbert, Cisco; Matt Keller, Corsec; Eric Winterton, Booz Allen Hamilton.

  • Entropy Sources – Industry Realities and Evaluation Challenges

September 11 from 10-10:30AM ET

Alicia Squires: CISSP, Product Certification Engineer, Cisco Chair, CCUF Management Group

  • Cryptography and Common Criteria

September 11 from 11:30-12PM ET

Ashit Vora, Manager, Common Criteria Certification, Cisco and Chris Brych, Manager, Security Certifications, SafeNet, Inc.

  • Lessons and Recommendations from Evaluating Against NDPP in Three Different Schemes

September 11 from 5-5:30PM ET

Terrie Diaz, Product Certification Engineer, Cisco and Ashit Vora, Manager, Common Criteria Certification, Cisco

  • Widening the Use of CC for End Users Worldwide

September 12 from 9:30-11AM ET

Moderator: Michele Mullen, Director, ATA, CSEC

Adam Golodner, Director, Global Security & Technology Policy, Cisco; Steve Lipner, Microsoft; Blackberry (INVITED); Ericsson (INVITED)



Authors

Kathleen Wilson

Sr. Manager, Marketing and Communications

Security and Trust Organizations

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Frost & SullivanI am happy to share the great news that the Cisco team received industry accolades last week when it was recognized by Frost & Sullivan for delivering a seamlessly connected enterprise collaboration solution across industry verticals.  The award, based on Frost & Sullivan’s Vision of the Future of Manufacturing Production 2.0 (Visi-MAP 2.0), identified the top 50 game changers in manufacturing hardware and software. The Visi-MAP 2.0 initiative uses this platform to identify companies that refuse to take a ringside spectator view of industry developments and instead, lead in the visionary innovation process.

I know I speak for the entire Cisco Manufacturing team when I say that we are honored to be recognized for our integrated, vertically relevant solutions for business and operations networks as well as our strong ecosystem of partners.  We have advanced our solutions greatly over the past few years and are excited for our future and continued growth. Our industry-leading solutions continue to set us apart from our competitors and we are excited that the industry is recognizing us as a leader.

Continue reading “Cisco Manufacturing Honored by Frost & Sullivan”



Authors

Dan Kern

Lead Marketing Manager

Manufacturing & Energy Industry Sector

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This year at VMworld, San Francisco, I had a choice, to attend either as a Visitor or as a Demo Booth staffer. I quickly chose the latter, as I could not resist getting face-time with customers! My decision proved fully justified, as I gained a lot from the discussions on the show floor. I was so busy, the 4 day event ended before I could notice it.  It was really a great learning experience for me at the event to hear first-hand why customers prefer vBlock and FlexPod over other Cloud offerings. Many folks mentioned, that the unified support model that comes with vBlock and FlexPod, Cisco Validated Designs (CVDs) that minimize guesswork and risk, combined with lower TCO and high-performance that comes with Cisco UCS, were all major factors that influenced their decision.

Along these very lines, I was able to grab some time with Jim McHugh, (our VP of Marketing for UCS) to discuss the emerging customer trends in private cloud, desktop virtualization,  and other innovative solutions Cisco is building with VMware and its strategic partner ecosystem

Related Links

www.vce.com
www.cisco.com/go/flexpod
www.cisco.com/go/ucs



Authors

Ravi Balakrishnan

Senior Product Marketing Manager

Datacenter Solutions

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Welcome Dave Cronberger to the Manufacturing Industry Blog

Dave Cronberger
Dave Cronberger

It is with great pleasure that I introduce a key member of the Cisco Customer Global Enterprise Solutions Group. Dave is a customer solutions architect, working with and supporting key global customers, especially in the automotive industry. As an Infrastructure architect he is focused on physical and logical networks and network based services in industrial automation in discreet and process control environments.

He is a 14-year Cisco veteran with a background in IT networks, network security, IT and OT infrastructure, networks and security, with additional focus on collaboration technologies that use voice, video, and web to improve manufacturing process.

Dave is no stranger to the cutting edge of the automotive industry. He has initiated fleet connected vehicle solutions for Cisco, associated with an IP enabled vehicle using a variety of wireless connections, and today he is focused on Industrial Automation Networks and supporting systems along with network architecture and design for control systems in discreet and process manufacturing systems. This also includes systems supporting the plant floor such as communications, remote expert solutions, wireless networks and security. Continue reading “Welcome Dave Cronberger to the Manufacturing Industry Blog”



Authors

Peter Granger

Senior Sales Transformation Manager