Building Next Generation Data Centers

The network is the foundation of the Cisco Data Center 3.0 strategy. Next-generation data centers need a network infrastructure that can deliver the full potential of features such as resource virtualization or a unified fabric. The broad portfolio of Cisco data center switches provides the flexibility to choose the optimal switch for a particular purpose while still maintaining consistent implementation, management, and operations.

The Cisco data center switching portfolio is founded on:

Continuous operations: A combination of hardware redundancy and features such as in-service software upgrades and Smart Call Home can maximize network availability.
Operational manageability: Integrated management tools simplify operations and accelerate problem resolution.
Transport flexibility: Cisco switches give customers a granular migration path to easily take advantage of new technologies.

Featured Products

Cisco Nexus 5000 Series

Unified fabric simplifies data center infrastructure; improves agility and resilience.

Cisco Nexus 7000 Series

Get availability, performance, and manageability for your next-generation data center.

Cisco Catalyst 6500 Virtual Switching System

Network virtualization improves data center performance and resilience.

As IT becomes central to core business processes, data centers must be able to address the differing needs for performance, availability, and cost-efficiency of the various systems they support. A successful architecture can address the current mix of technical, functional, and cost requirements and adapt as this mix inevitably changes.

Additionally, the network design should be architecturally driven to consistently meet the numerous operational and functional requirements of the data center. Cisco supports this network design with:

Industry-leading switching capabilities: The market-leading Layer 2 and layer 3 functionality can help build stable, secure, scalable data centers.
Investment protection: Forward investment protection in the Cisco Nexus and Catalyst families can simplify capacity and capability upgrades. For example, the Catalyst 4900M rack switch uses a semi-modular design for easy migration from Gigabit Ethernet to 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Similarly, the Cisco Nexus 7000 is ready from day one to support 40Gb Ethernet, 100Gb Ethernet, and Data Center Ethernet.
Design flexibility: Modular, rack, and integrated blade switches are optimized for both Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet environments.
Operational consistency: A consistent interface and tools simplify management, operations, and trouble resolution.
Virtualization: Cisco data center switches facilitate data center virtualization, including virtual machine mobility support, management. and operations tools for a virtualized environment. For example, the Catalyst 6500 offers virtual switching system (VSS) and the Nexus 7000 offers "hypervisor-like" virtual switch capabilities.

Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Switches

Next-generation unified fabric rack switches can reduce the cost and complexity of the server access network.

Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches

Next-generation unified fabric switches meet the business, service, application, and operational requirements of tomorrow's data center.

Cisco Catalyst 6500 Virtual Switching System

Network virtualization improves data center performance and resilience.

Cisco Blade Switches

Cisco Blade Server Switches (Ethernet, Fibre Channel, and InfiniBand) can simplify data center operations and reduce time to deployment for new application infrastructure, without compromising availability, security, and performance.
> Cisco Catalyst Blade Switches
> Cisco MDS Fibre Channel Blade Switch

Cisco Catalyst 4900 Series Switches

These switches deliver optimized rack switching, and the Cisco 4900M semimodular switch provides a cost-effective migration path from Gigabit Ethernet to 10 Gigabit Ethernet for attached servers.

Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switches

With industry-leading services and performance, the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switch is the most flexible Cisco switching solution.

Cisco SFS 7000 Series InfiniBand Server Switches

These switches provide an ideal server interconnect for distributed application environments such as high-performance computing.

Brochures

Cisco and VMware Facilitate Virtualization
Understand how Cisco and VMware partner to deliver on a common vision
Data Center Network Architecture At-A-Glance (PDF - 156 KB)
Review the key points of the Cisco Data Center Network Architecture

Whitepapers

Integrating Virtual Machines into the Data Center (PDF - 589 KB)
Read about design best practices when deploying server virtualization in the data center.
Network Implications of Server Virtualization
Understand the design and management implications of deploying a dense-VM environment.
Blade Servers in Enterprise Data Center Architecture (PDF - 56 KB)
Understand the implications of deploying blade serves in the data center.
HPC Networking: The Foundation for Networked Supercomputers
Read about the latest Cisco solutions for high performance computing
Facilities Considerations for the Data Center (PDF - 3.1 MB)
Review the facilities design parameters when assessing a data center.

Cisco Data Center Design and Planning Best Practices

Design Zone for Data Centers

Learn how to develop a comprehensive, secure, and extensible data center network architecture by sharing validated Cisco best-practice designs.

Cisco Data Center Assurance Program

Find out how to plan your own data center network implementation based on a comprehensive design that has had extensive system-level testing.

Video

Enabling the Service-Oriented Data Center

Learn more about Cisco IT and their Service Oriented Data Center initiative.

Featured Content

Cisco Nexus 5000 and VM Optimization(Video - 8:28 min)
Learn about server virtualization features.

Built for the Next Generation Data Center(Video - 7:47 min)
Learn about the Cisco Nexus 7000 platforms capabilities and the tremendous advantages it offers in the data center.

The Evolution of Data Center Architecture
Learn how the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series and Cisco Catalyst together provide a network platform for data center transformation. Registration required.

Data Center Services
Find out how Cisco professional services can help optimize current data centers and plan and implement the next generation.