For everyone in the VMware Partner Community, next week marks the gathering of technologists to learn, train, and generally get together. Cisco has some great opportunities to do all of the above.

The easiest way to stay up to date? Follow us @CiscoDC. If you’re not on Twitter, find me, give me 5 minutes, and let’s see if I can convince you to join your community of peers.

/Lecture

Here are some VMware PEX highlights:

Boot Camp: Connect, Discover, Learn with Cisco
Monday, February 25, 8:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
Session ID: SPO2400
The Cisco Boot Camp is dedicated to educating and enabling partners to sell and deploy Cisco solutions successfully.

Breakout Session: Cisco Unified Data Center: From Server to Network
Wednesday, February 27, 12:30–1:30 p.m.
Speaker: Satinder Sethi, VP, Server Product Management and Data Center Solutions, Cisco

Demos: Cisco Booth 1015!

• VDI: Cisco UCS with VMware View
• Cisco Servers: Cisco Unified Computing System with VMware
• Cisco Nexus 1000V Family
• Cisco Unified Management
• Branch Office Consolidation with Cisco E-Series Server
• EMC VSPEX Proven Infrastructure

Also in Cisco Booth 1015, we’ll be shooting multiple episodes of Engineers Unplugged! Drop by to see some of the superstars of IT in full whiteboard action. Topics range from automation to virtualization to SDN. Send me a Tweet @CommsNinja if you’d like to participate!

But wait, there’s more, in addition to the fantastic official networking/social events at VMware PEX, we’re gathering as Geeks Without Borders to kick things off Sunday Night. Come out, meet your colleagues in person, say hello.

Speaking of community, be sure to sign up for our growing Data Center Virtualization Community, to hang out with the Cisco experts virtually.

Tags: cisco community, Cisco UCS, data center, engineers unplugged, nexus, pex2013, SDN, vdi, virtualization, vmware partner exchange, vmwarepex, vspex

Not One-size-fits-all

In the world of fashion, one-size-fits all has very limited appeal. People come in all shapes and sizes, with tastes, preferences, and needs that are equally diverse. So too are the diverse approaches and use cases that are driving interest in Software Defined Networking (SDN), automation, simplification, orchestration, and other solutions. Service providers are exploring technologies for more efficient, flexible, and cost-efficient network operations that will in turn make their businesses more agile and competitive.

Last year at Cisco Live in San Diego, Cisco introduced a broad vision and strategy  ̶  The Cisco Open Network Environment  ̶  an evolutionary approach that not only includes SDN but also encompasses an array of solutions, products, and technologies that are applicable to most, if not all, use cases that are much broader than what SDN alone could address. Since then, as part of our “Build, Buy, and Partner” strategy, we have announced newly developed technologies and products accompanied by strategic company acquisitions that add tools to enhance visibility, orchestration, programmability, and other capabilities to Cisco offerings.

At the end of January at Cisco Live in London 2013, we discussed a variety of solutions that we are working on with service providers to start their journey toward making their networks more programmable. From custom routing and traffic processing, to security applications and automation of fulfillment and assurance, here are just a few of the use cases explored and implemented by early adopters of our technologies that were discussed: Read More »

Tags: Open Network Environment, SDN, Service Provider, software defined networking

Topics such as Software Defined Networking and programmable networks are of great interest to many network operators these days. With that in mind we’re pleased to kick off a new series of Webcasts to help our customer learn more about Cisco’s Open Network Environment strategy.

Please join us on February 14, 2013 (9:00 am PST, 5:00 pm GMT) for an educational webcast featuring David Ward, Cisco CTO, Engineering and SP Chief Architect, and Chair of the Technical Advisory Group at the Open Network Foundation (ONF). It’s a chance to learn more about OpenFlow and its components, the protocol evolution and use cases, as well as its integration into existing networks. Read More »

Tags: Cisco, David Ward, ONE, OpenFlow, SDN, Service Provider

Join Cisco executives and technology experts at one of the premier optical networking conferences from March 17-21 in Anaheim, California.  We welcome you all to be part of the dialog around Next Generation Transport technology!

Optical networks are the foundation of communications today – and trends such as programmable networks, dynamic networking, interconnected data centers, and Software Defined Networks (SDNs) are all facilitated by advances in photonic technology. Experts agree that the only way network operators will support the traffic forecast in Cisco’s Visual Networking Index is cost effective and widely deployed services at 100 Gbps and beyond. And all of these services over a flexible, touchless, and programmable optical layer.

If you’re interested in learning more in how the latest in silicon photonics and advanced ROADM technology will enable the Internet of Everything you should make your way to Anaheim, California, March 17-21 for the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition and the National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (OFC-NFOEC). We are excited to engage in the discussions around these hot topics including the Cisco CRS Elastic Core solution and nLight technology, announced last October.

Be sure to Read More »

Tags: 100G, 400G, Cisco, elastic core, nLight, OFC-NFOEC, Optical, optical fiber, SDN, Service Provider

I am sitting and reflecting here at the start of Cisco Live London. As I walk the halls, I continue to be amazed by the size, depth, and breadth of this event. Networking continues to grow, and thousands of people are eager to come together to see the latest. Read More »

Tags: #CLEUR, cisco live, Cisco Live London, cisco live london 2013, EIGRP, human connections, human network, identity, Identity Connector, mobility, ONE, onePK, SDN