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Rex Backman

Senior Marketing Manager, Big Data Solutions

Data Center and Cloud

Rex is a member of Cisco’s Data Center marketing team and focuses on the Big Data ecosystem. He has spent the last 10+ years developing or marketing solutions for Microsoft enterprise environments. Prior to Cisco, Rex worked at Microsoft were he helped to develop the System Center management family as well as Windows Server. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science from California State University at Chico.

Articles

June 18, 2013

DATA CENTER

Virtual Networking for Microsoft Hyper-V: Upcoming Nexus 1000V Webinar and Resources

1 min read

Are you using or evaluating Windows Server 2012 and Microsoft System Center 2012 to deliver higher performance and scale for your workloads? If so, then take advantage of an upcoming joint Cisco / Microsoft webinar to learn how the Cisco Nexus 1000V can simplify your Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V environments through a non-disruptive operational model, […]

June 5, 2013

DATA CENTER

Cisco Innovation Three-peats and Doubles at Microsoft Tech Ed 2013!

1 min read

This afternoon here in New Orleans at Microsoft’s Tech Ed 2013 North America event Cisco was honored with two Best of Tech Ed (BoTE) awards for our innovation and technology. Our Nexus 1000V switch for Microsoft Hyper-V was awarded with a Best of Tech Ed award in the ‘Virtualization’ category. Our FlexPod with Microsoft Private […]

May 27, 2013

DATA CENTER

Cisco’s Microsoft Tech Ed 2013 Primer: All You Need to Know for New Orleans and Madrid Events

1 min read

Next week in New Orleans Microsoft’s trade show season kicks off in earnest with Microsoft Tech Ed North America which will be followed a few weeks later with Microsoft Tech Ed Europe 2013.  Cisco will be a gold sponsor at each event showcasing our datacenter assets. Cisco continues to double-down on investments for Microsoft oriented […]

April 11, 2013

DATA CENTER

Microsoft on UCS: Simplify Your IT and Transform Your Business

2 min read

We’re at the final day of Microsoft’s Management Summit 2013 (MMS 2013) here in Las Vegas. We’ve handed out ~1,500 t-shirts; performed hundreds of demos on our technologies Nexus 1000V, UCS Manager, VM-FEX, and Cisco PowerTool; evangelized our Microsoft Cloud OS solutions FlexPod and VSPEX; and generally interacted with most of the 5,000+ attendees here. […]

April 7, 2013

DATA CENTER

Cisco UCS Management and the Microsoft Management Summit 2013: Where Imagination Rules the World

2 min read

It’s late Sunday night in Las Vegas as I write this from my hotel room – Cisco’s day one MMS 2013 blog post. It has been a long day already here at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center getting set up for the show… Our Cisco booth is complete; UCS, Nexus 1000V, FlexPod, and VSPEX Engineers […]

April 4, 2013

DATA CENTER

Executive Roundtable: Cisco, Intel, and NetApp, with special guest Microsoft, on the Private Cloud

1 min read

We’ve been doing quite a bit of work recently with our strategic partners Intel, NetApp, and Microsoft on Microsoft oriented private cloud solutions. Specifically we’ve been focusing on new innovation going into our joint FlexPod with Microsoft Private Cloud reference architecture. A great way to learn about these joint development activities is to join in on an […]

April 10, 2013

DATA CENTER

VSPEX for Microsoft Hyper-V : A Guest Post from our Partner EMC

2 min read

Note: This guest blog is from our partner EMC. In it Chad Dunn, Director of VSPEX Business Operations, comments on VSPEX as an infrastructure solution for Microsoft oriented I.T. environments.  Rex.  Cisco and EMC Buddy-Up on VSPEX for Microsoft Private Cloud At EMC we’re always keen on working with fellow industry-leaders to deliver solutions that accelerate […]

April 10, 2013

DATA CENTER

FlexPod with Microsoft Private Cloud : A Guest Post from our Partner NetApp

2 min read

Note: This guest blog is from our partner NetApp.  VDI Reference Architect Rob Briggs introduces ExpressPod for the Microsoft private cloud as well as comments on FlexPod successes. Rex.  FlexPod, ExpressPod, and Windows Server 2012 RDS – “It’s in the Box!” I’ve seen a lot of great discussion and buzz this week at the Microsoft […]

March 15, 2013

DATA CENTER

What’s Cisco Doing for Windows Server 2012 and System Center 2012 SP1?

1 min read

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpuolfWKoXQ We’re doing quite a bit actually…if you’re headed to the Microsoft Management Summit 2013 show in Las Vegas in a few weeks, stop by our booth, grab a t-shirt, and see us demo our UCS Manager and Nexus 1000V capabilities and more… Cisco’s technology investments for Windows Server 2012 & System Center 2012 center […]

March 1, 2013

DATA CENTER

Cisco UCS SmartPlay Offers for Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint & SQL Server

1 min read

As you look at your upcoming Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint, or SQL Server projects keep in mind Cisco’s Unified Computing System (UCS) SmartPlay program. The program offers attractive pricing on select Cisco UCS blade and rack server bundles. Our Cisco UCS servers provide an optimal I.T. platform for these key Microsoft workloads helping you to deliver […]

February 19, 2013

DATA CENTER

Vegas!!! It’s All About Management… MMS 2013 that is…

We’ve mentioned earlier that Cisco is again a platinum sponsor at this year’s Microsoft Management Summit in Las Vegas. We’ll showcase UCS, UCS Manager, PowerTool for PowerShell, and many other management solutions and technologies. Two speaking sessions are dedicated to Cisco technology as well – see details below.  So, don’t gamble away your chance to […]

February 8, 2013

DATA CENTER

Microsoft SQL Server on UCS : Higher Performance and Lower Cost

Organizations use Cisco UCS servers to gain the power, flexibility, and management simplicity needed to meet their Microsoft SQL Server workload demands while increasing their IT agility. Starting with standalone servers for performance and bandwidth, or connecting servers through Cisco UCS for automated configuration, simplified management, and massive I/O flexibility which provide SAN and network-attached […]

February 1, 2013

DATA CENTER

Microsoft SharePoint 2010 with Microsoft Hyper-V on Cisco UCS

Recently our UCS Engineering team published this Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Cisco Validated Design (CVD). This validated reference architecture describes the performance of a medium-sized SharePoint farm using Microsoft’s Hyper-V hypervisor on our Cisco UCS Rack Servers in a three-tier architecture – web, application, and database. A load generation framework developed by the UCS Solutions SharePoint […]

January 22, 2013

DATA CENTER

A SQL Server Benchmark to Build On: Cisco, Microsoft, XIO, Riversand, and Scalability Experts

1 min read

Understanding the true capacity of an application and how it responds under stress is always top of mind for ISV’s as they bring solutions to market. Recently at Microsoft’s  Partner Solutions Center (MPSC) in Redmond we and our partners X-IO and Scalability Experts worked with ISV Riversand Technologies to provide the ‘hard proof’ that their […]

January 18, 2013

DATA CENTER

Want to visit Cisco at Microsoft Management Summit 2013? Play Cloud OS Trivia for the chance to win a trip!

1 min read

Once again this year Cisco will be a Platinum sponsor at Microsoft’s Management Summit 2013 (MMS 2013) in Las Vegas, April 8 – 12.  At the event we will showcase new Cisco solutions and technologies applicable to the world of Windows Server, System Center, and Hyper-V. We’re participating in a small way via sponsorship with Microsoft in their Cloud OS […]

November 26, 2012

DATA CENTER

Cisco Nabs Gold, Silver, and Bronze Awards

1 min read

Each year Windows IT Pro announces their Editors’ Best and Community Choice awards recognizing the hottest  products in the world of Microsoft. The Editors Best award highlight products that the Windows IT Pro editors and contributors believe are worthy of recognition. The Community Choice awards lets the Windows IT Pro readers from around the world […]

November 14, 2012

DATA CENTER

Cisco + Microsoft: UCS PowerTool for PowerShell Quick Start Guide

1 min read

A truly “Better Together” story is the pairing of two strong management utilities – Cisco UCS Manager’s PowerTool offering with Microsoft’s PowerShell solution. Together they afford UCS System Administrators the ability to quickly automate and customize a multitude of management tasks resulting increased efficiency and quality utilization of IT resources and staff. PowerTool is a […]