Innovation Insights on Our Global Search for Innovative Technology Solutions

How Internet standards are born: Part 3

In our third and final interview with Cisco standards experts, I talked with Andrew Myles. He is focused on wireless standards and interoperability activities, with a distinct Wi-Fi bias.

Andrew has contributed to standardisation activities in the IEEE 802.11 Working Group since 2001. He was the Editor of IEEE 802.11h (Spectrum Management) and is currently the Chairman of the IEEE 802.11 JTC1 ad hoc committee and the 802 Liaison to ISO/IEC JTC1/SC6. Andrew has been involved in certification activities in the Wi-Fi Alliance since 2003. He became a Director of the Wi-Fi Alliance in 2004 and Chairman of its Board of Directors in 2006. Within Cisco, Andrew has a standards coordination role with WRSTG, with a particular responsibility for IEEE standards matters and an interest in international standards policy matters.

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Posted by Jennifer McAdams at 03:19PM PST

Networking in 2010 and Beyond—3 Mega-Trends

Every year, global research firm IDC issues a new set of predictions that drive their view of technology advancements and adoption – not just over the coming year, but also their five-year forecast horizon. I recently attended IDC’s virtual conference focused on their outlook for networking. While IDC’s research is the place to go to view their specific predictions and forecasts, I thought I would offer my own thoughts on some of the mega-trends I see not only behind IDC’s predictions for enterprise networks in general, but also Cisco’s own Borderless Networks initiative.

So what are these mega-trends driving the future of networking?

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Posted by Mark Leary at 10:04AM PST

How Internet standards are born: Part 2

Continuing from where I left off in my conversation with Eliot Lear, I recently talked with Fred Baker, another Cisco standards expert, about the ins and outs of network standards development. Fred has been in the networking industry for over 30 years, and has held numerous positions within the IETF, one of the major Internet standards bodies. He chaired the organization from 1996-2001 and currently chairs the working group on IPv6 operations. Here, Fred answers my questions and gives us a sneak peek into how standards critical to the Internet and network technology are made.

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Posted by Jennifer McAdams at 12:24PM PST

The Top 3 Security Challenges to Borderless Networks in 2010

At Cisco, we’ve talked a lot of late about business trends that are creating the need for “Borderless Networks.” Businesses have increasingly mobile and global workforces that need to be able to connect anywhere, at any time, from any device. But these same business trends and the technological innovations working in tandem to support them introduce a dilemma. How do we build seamless networks that are also secure to address new opportunities?

In 2010 and beyond, there are three major on-going developments in both workforce behavior and technology that will present challenges to the security of the network:

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Posted by Steven Song at 03:11PM PST

Got a Network Outage? Blame it on Santa!

Ah…the beginning of a New Year. Better yet – a new decade! The resolutions, the inspired ideas and of course all the holiday weight to lose. It was a good break. Like last year, Cisco had an enforced shutdown with the majority of company going on “vacation”. It was good not to come back to an e-mail backlog. The clock had indeed stopped.

It has been 10 days into the New Year already, and it already feels like a Loong time. The year seems to have begun on a positive note though. Retails sales were up in the holidays. Job losses, while still high, seem to be declining. Many companies have started hiring. Emerging markets are buoyant. The Burj Khalifa helped reach new heights. And boy, did the box offices rock to Avatar grossing Na’vigating themselves to movie history. Earthquakes (including a recent one that shook our San Jose office last week), realty, and attempted terrorist attacks have certainly put a damper on things, but there is something in the air this time around that was completely missing last year – Optimism!

From a theme of “Innovate to survive”, the mood has shifted to a theme of “Innovate to thrive”. The most excitement has been with consumer gadgets. People are willing to spend on entertainment either for themselves, or because their kids bug Santa and put him in overdrive. Most kids in my neighborhood seem to have these smartphones. Texting is no longer cool. They need to update Facebook and upload their videos, making the iPhones among the top gifts of 2009. iPhone ruled 2009 and the holiday season, alongwith its other Apple ibrethren. A variety of eReaders, gaming consoles, and of course the big screen TVs made news. Cool stuff was hot. Cisco’s own Flip cameras had the cool factor. I was gawking at the Flips in Costco, when the sales person told me to “grab them before they’re gone”.  I did.

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Posted by Shashi Kiran at 12:16AM PST

How Internet standards are born

I recently had the chance to catch up with Eliot Lear, a Consulting Engineer at Cisco who has been involved in the open standards movement for over 20 years. Eliot has submitted eight Requests for Comments (RFC), the documents that form the basis of Internet standards. Over my time here, I’ve come to understand how important standards efforts are to Cisco, and I wanted to find out more from one of our very own experts. Here Eliot’s answers my questions.

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Posted by Jennifer McAdams at 12:31PM PST

Cisco Networks And The Three Blind Myths!  Myth #3: Choice

In my previous two posts, I offered an eyes-wide-open view of two often-cited criticisms relating to Cisco networks – Complexity and Cost. In this third and final installment of the myth-busting series, I want to dismiss the assertion that Cisco networks limit choice. Conversely, I’ll argue that Cisco networks actually offer the greatest choice to network operators.

Before I dispel the myth of Choice, I want to state that there are a number of variations of the Choice myth. I’ll focus on the five that I see as most relevant to the network and the network operator – Network Options, Open Standards, Support Resources, Partner Solutions, and Business Innovation.

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Posted by Mark Leary at 07:31AM PST

Borderless Netbooks

According to Larry Dignan of ZDNet, the 264% growth in sales of “Netbooks” over the same quarter last year demonstrates that these small, low-power, web-browsing-centric notebook computers are here to stay. Netbooks seem to match our insatiable desire for a borderless world. In a connect-on-the-go, anytime, anywhere kind of world, people want portable. They want quick and simple.

The connection between netbooks and Cisco’s Borderless Networks concept is even deeper than I once thought however. Take a look at the power requirements for most netbook models. They consume 30 watts of power. Heard of PoE Plus, the new standard of Power-over-Ethernet technology from Cisco that allows up to 30 watts per port for power-hungry devices? Heard of the Catalyst 4500, the first switch series to support this new standard? Light bulb!

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Posted by Jennifer Geisler at 10:06AM PST

Cisco Networks And The Three Blind Myths!  Myth #2: Cost

Following the myth-busting thread initiated by my prior post on network complexity, let’s next take a closer look at network-related costs. Specifically, let’s shed some light on a second frequently cited myth about Cisco  —our solutions cost more.

First, let’s establish that price does not equal cost. Price is the initial cost of purchasing a product. Cost includes not only this initial purchase price, but also all the expenses associated with owning and operating the product. My contention: Cisco solutions cost less.

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Posted by Mark Leary at 09:51AM PST

Cisco Networks And The Three Blind Myths!  Myth #1: Complexity

When my family and I consider buying a new car, it never ceases to astound me how many factors go into the decision. Sure, price is an important consideration. It is, however, just one of many. I want to know what’s under the hood. How does the car handle? How many passengers does it hold? How reliable is it? How safe it is? How long will it last? How fuel efficient is it? The list goes on and on. The same is true in the networking world.

We at Cisco hear a few common criticisms. Cisco solutions cost more. Cisco solutions are complex. Cisco solutions limit choice. Alternative networking vendors would have you believe that buying the “cheapest”… or the “simplest”… or the so-called “open” device is the best route to networking success. Oh, if it were only as easy as they make it sound. Just as with the new car purchase, there is so much more involved in evaluating your options and, ultimately, making the right decision. To that point, I’d like to take a moment in this post to address one of these three myths related to Cisco networking solutions, and hopefully give you some helpful tips for planning your network in the process. I’ll address the remaining two myths in future posts.

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Posted by Mark Leary at 02:41PM PST

Energy Management Without Borders

The ultimate goal of the Borderless Networks plan is to help people, and the technology and devices they use, to connect seamlessly through the network regardless of location. Almost a year ago, we challenged ourselves with this basic question: “If the network will eventually touch everything, then wouldn’t it be useful to manage energy at every point in the network?”

EnergyWise was our answer. And ever since we first rolled out this next-generation company-wide energy manager, the plan really came together. Big milestones for the product have included partner implementations from IBM and SolarWinds, as well as the Best of Interop 2009 Green Award.

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Posted by Jennifer Geisler at 03:03PM PST

Innovation at the Core and Interop NY 2009

What comes to mind when you think of Borderless Networks? For many people, the idea of universal and seamless connectivity evokes images of always on smart phones, videoconference technology, and collaboration applications like WebEx. These technologies are certainly a big part of the Borderless Networks vision, but it’s also important to look past the immediately visible end points of interaction to all the stuff going on in the background. You’ll realize that this “stuff” is in fact the network, an underlying architecture that makes all of these transformational applications and end points possible.

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Posted by Jennifer McAdams at 02:12PM PST

Cisco Borderless Networks at Interop New York 2009 - By the way, what is Borderless Networks?

Interop New York 2009 kicked off with a keynote by Marie Hattar, Cisco VP of Network Systems and Security, on “Business Transformation in a World Without Borders”   This  keynote was followed up with a lot of buzz on the show floor about what this world without borders means to IT and how Cisco’s Borderless Networks makes it a reality.   So what is Borderless Networks and what does it really mean to IT professionals? 

If you ask me (aka Cisco), I will tell you that it is Cisco’s next-generation architecture, that delivers the new workspace experience, connecting anyone, anywhere, using any device, to any resource—securely, reliably, seamlessly.  What it means to me is that I can be more productive and work anytime from anywhere.  As eloquent as that may sound, I am betting that you would like to hear what IT professionals have to say – right?  Then check out this video with candid responses when we asked from the show floor “What is Borderless Networks and what does that mean to you?”  Do you agree with these IT professionals or do you have a different view?  If you are at Interop, please stop by the Cisco booth and tell us what you think. If you are not at Interop or if you prefer the virtual world, please respond to this blog. 

What do you think Borderless Networks is and what does it mean to you?

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Posted by Jennifer Geisler at 12:19AM PST

Architecting Borderless Networks with a Systems Approach

Cisco’s Borderless Networks initiative comes at a time when network technology is more important than ever before in driving growth and ROI for businesses. Connecting anyone, at any time, anywhere in the world, and improving your ability to effectively deliver critical applications and services, requires a paradigm shift away from a “plumbing” view of the network. The network doesn’t just pump data from one place to another. In a time increasingly defined by video communication, wireless connectivity and cloud computing, having a strong network provides real strategic business value everyday. The same is true for the fundamental core of the network (i.e. routing and switching) as it is for newer extensions that the core supports, such as virtualization and video conferencing.

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Posted by Jennifer McAdams at 02:29PM PST

Networking Standards: A Vendor Litmus Test for Open Systems

Industry standards and open systems deliver a wealth of advantages to all network operators—global enterprises, government agencies small and medium-sized businesses, service providers, and even homeowners. Holding technology vendors to a high standard (Pardon the pun.) with respect to developing, implementing, certifying, and delivering open and standardized solutions is a key success factor for network operators looking to maximize the flexibility and cost-effectiveness of their networks.

When examining the role of technology vendors within the standards process, it is important to understand that many levels of commitment and participation are possible. After all, most vendors will state they are firmly committed to industry standards and open systems. As proof of this commitment, every vendor will point to their respective product specifications for the always-present list of supported standards. While these lists provide a good starting point in determining how committed vendors are to delivering standardized solutions, they are just that, a start. In essence, these compliance specifications serve as the initial (and lowest) setting for the “open standards” bar. The true standards bearers are prepared and have proven to jump over a much higher bar.

So how does one judge the level of commitment of a vendor to industry standards and open systems?

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Posted by Mark Leary at 11:34AM PST