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J Metz

Sr. Product Manager

Data Center Group

J Metz - the man with the funny-spelled name - is a Product Manager Cisco's Data Center Group. Recently, the primary focus of his work was involved in the promotion, evangelizing, and development of FCoE and Fibre Channel products and technology in the Data Center, both in and out of Cisco.

Now, his role has expanded to include a broader aspect of the Cisco portfolio, including SDN and Programmability. Data Centers are constantly evolving, and so is the bigger picture.

Driving forward with a passion for innovation and raising the technology bar to the next human level, J is committed to providing clarity among the clanging gongs, quality amidst the clutter. Additionally, J sets goals for promoting the understanding of solutions that have real-world impact: driving costs down, productivity up, and pushing the envelope of getting things done.

J received his Ph.D from the University of Georgia and has worked as a university professor and entrepreneur before turning to the corporate world.

Articles

June 30, 2015

DATA CENTER

The Napkins Dialogues: Life of a Packet (Walk), Part 1

1 min read

Lately I’ve been giving a lot of presentations about storage basics. I actually really enjoy it, because it makes me rethink some of the things that I took for granted, and it helps me understand some of the gaps in my own knowledge when questions arise. When you think of how we do certain things […]

August 4, 2014

DATA CENTER

Balancing the MDS Scales in Your Favor

4 min read

One of the main themes I’ve been running into a lot lately is the sense of scale. For a while the term actually lost much of its meaning because it has been used to describe any number of systems that happen to be large. Scale-up. Scale-out. At scale. See what I mean? The term is […]

July 9, 2014

DATA CENTER

The Napkin Dialogues: Nexus Programmability, Part II

9 min read

When last we left our hero, he (that is, me, or I) was getting a crash course in Nexus programmability and trying to understand what all of this stuff meant. I had plied Jim* with beer in order to get him to explain to me – using the available napkins in the bar – what […]

June 30, 2014

DATA CENTER

The Napkin Dialogues: Nexus Programmability, Part I

11 min read

I know that I take a different approach to learning new things than most people. At least, I know my approach is different than the way people present them. The good news is that when I get something, I really get it. However, when looking at the juggernaut that is “Software-Defined X,” or even “programmability,” […]

May 15, 2014

DATA CENTER

What is Dynamic FCoE?

8 min read

It’s been a very busy few weeks. The Data Storage Innovations (DSI) conference, the Ethernet Summit conference, EMCWorld, and next week at CiscoLive, I’ve been starting to talk about a new concept in Data Center storage networks called Dynamic FCoE. Understandably, there have been a lot of questions about it, and I wanted to try […]

May 14, 2014

DATA CENTER

Thoughts on #OpenStack and Software-Defined Storage

4 min read

This week has been the semi-annual OpenStack Summit in Atlanta, GA. In a rare occurrence I’ve been able to be here as an attendee, which has given me wide insight into a world of Open Source development I rarely get to see outside of some interpersonal conversations with DevOps people. (If you’re not sure what […]

April 28, 2014

DATA CENTER

Two Resources on Nexus Programmability

2 min read

As I start to explore more and more information about Software-Defined Networking and Programmability in the Nexus portfolio, I’ve been fortunate that there have been a lot of people helping me learn along the way.  I thought I’d share some of these as it gave me a bit more insight into some of the more […]

April 10, 2014

DATA CENTER

The Napkin Dialogues: “Open”-ing up to SDN

17 min read

I consider myself to be a reasonably intelligent individual. Well, perhaps “reasonably” is a debatable term; just ask my friends. Or my wife. (Then again, don’t ask my wife.) Reasonable or not, though, I’ve been trying to wrap my head around what all this “software defined” stuff is supposed to mean, and I have to […]

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