Cisco Expands Catalyst Switch Portfolio

CANNES, France, January 31, 2007 -- Video applications such as Internet Protocol (IP) video, IPTV and telepresence on the campus network help customers increase productivity while reducing operating costs. Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) today announced new Cisco Catalyst switch offerings that aim to ensure these new real-time bandwidth intensive services are delivered with the highest performance, availability, quality of service and maximum security.

An integral part of the Cisco Service Oriented Network Architecture (SONA) framework, the Cisco Campus Network facilitates real-time business. Highlights of today's introductions for the Cisco Campus Network include:

• Cisco Catalyst 3750-E and 3560-E Series Switches: Enterprise-class line of 10/100/1000 wiring closet switches with 10 Gigabit Ethernet uplinks and full Power over Ethernet (PoE) configurations. The Cisco Catalyst 3750-E Series Switches offer Cisco StackWise Plus for ease of use and deployment, high performance and superior resiliency.
  
  
• Cisco Catalyst 3560 and Catalyst 2960 Compact Switches: Small form-factor switches with Gigabit Ethernet and Fast Ethernet and PoE configurations designed for meeting rooms, classrooms and other wiring and space-constrained environments.
  
  
• Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series 8700W Enhanced AC Power Supply: Helps enable industry-leading PoE density with full redundancy across all chassis ports.
  
  
• Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Full Image In-Service Software Upgrade (ISSU): Helps ensure business continuity by enabling a full Cisco IOS Software upgrade without downtime.
  
  
• Cisco Redundant Power System (RPS) 2300: A redundant power system that provides users with uninterrupted network services in the event of an internal power-supply failure.

"Cisco has laid the groundwork for advanced services deployment for voice and video with improvements to the Cisco Catalyst portfolio that ease migration to next-generation 10 Gigabit Ethernet networks, extend Power over Ethernet capabilities, and add greater application control and operational efficiency," said Zeus Kerravala, senior vice president of enterprise research, Yankee Group. "The announcements today will extend highly secure wired and wireless user access, while easing network and operations management for stretched IT administrators."

Cisco Wiring Closet Switches with 10 Gigabit Ethernet Uplinks

The Cisco Catalyst 3750-E Series of stackable switches and Catalyst 3560-E Series of standalone switches facilitate the deployment of highly secure converged applications while maximizing investment protection. Featuring Cisco StackWise Plus, the Cisco Catalyst 3750-E Series is backward-compatible with StackWise and can be seamlessly integrated with Catalyst 3750 Series Switches, the Cisco Catalyst 3750 Integrated Wireless LAN Controller, and Cisco Integrated Services Routers.

The Cisco TwinGig Converter Module, a Cisco innovation optimized for 10 Gigabit Ethernet upgrades, easily changes two Gigabit Ethernet uplinks to a 10 Gigabit Ethernet uplink on the Cisco Catalyst 3750-E and 3560-E Series to accommodate business growth. This unique Cisco advantage simplifies future-proofing for 10 Gigabit Ethernet upgrades on fixed platforms instead of requiring a new 10 Gigabit Ethernet platform or requiring significant board-level changes.

Duke University, one of the nation's leading institutions of higher learning, based in Durham, N.C., provides a 27,000-node network for students, faculty and administrators. With more than 1,000 Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series Switches currently installed, information technology (IT) administrators are planning to upgrade the network with the new backward-compatible Cisco Catalyst 3750-E Series.

"The Cisco Catalyst 3750-E has a feature set that meets our next-generation needs," says Kevin Miller, senior manager of network services, Duke University. "We are planning to add the new 48-port Cisco Catalyst 3750-E to our existing switch stacks for greater Gigabit Ethernet performance. We need 10 Gigabit Ethernet for select telecommunications and data center deployments, and we expect to need even more as we deploy video applications throughout the campus. The Cisco Catalyst 3750-E allows us to deploy with 1-gigabit uplinks now, with the ability to easily upgrade to 10 Gigabit Ethernet uplinks as needed in the future."

Cisco Wiring Closet Switches Deliver Industry-Leading PoE Density

The Cisco Catalyst 3750-E and Catalyst 3560-E Series offer an industry first in comprehensive PoE provisioning and density, providing full IEEE 802.3af Class 3 power (15.4W) on every port in a single rack unit form factor. New to the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series is the 8700W Enhanced AC Power Supply, which provides industry-leading comprehensive PoE provisioning and density in a modular form factor, enabling full IEEE 802.3af Class 3 (15.4W) on 420 ports.

Extending Network Access Outside the Wiring Closet

The Cisco Catalyst 3560 and Catalyst 2960 Compact Switches deliver optimized security and advanced services for small-density deployments outside the wiring closet. The Cisco Catalyst Compact Switches' small size, durable metal shell, fan-free silent operation, easy wall or under-desk mounting, and security lock to prevent theft, make them ideally suited for meeting rooms, classrooms, micro-branch offices and a variety of other settings.

Aida Cruises, based in Germany, is installing the Cisco Catalyst 3560 Compact Switch in brand-new cruise ships to help enable Internet access, IP telephony and an entertainment system for audio and video on demand as well as online shopping and the scheduling of cruise activities. The Cisco Catalyst 3560 Compact Switches support advanced intelligence with PoE to help enable converged voice, video and data services, and each switch will be deployed in small hall closets serving two cabins per switch, thereby significantly lowering the amount of cabling required.

"Cisco's new line of compact switches is the ideal basis for our mobile infotainment solution that we deliver to cruisers aboard Aida cruise ships," said Dr. J?rg Liebe, director of voice integration products at Lufthansa Systems, a solutions provider for Aida Cruises. "With an entertainment system offering cruising ship entertainment and special event scheduling, cruisers will have more opportunities to customize their shipboard activities and make the most of their vacations, while also enjoying greater online access and IP telephony to stay connected as needed."

Improved Availability and Operational Efficiency with Software Enhancements

To help maximize network availability and virtually eliminate planned outages, Cisco now offers full image In-Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) capabilities on the Cisco Catalyst 4507R and 4510R Switches with redundant supervisor engines. Full-image ISSU allows customers to upgrade the complete Cisco IOS Software image without having to take the switch or network out of service.

To help improve operational efficiency, beginning with the Cisco Catalyst 3750-E and 3560-E Series, a Cisco IOS Software image containing all features sets will be installed at manufacturing, allowing a customer to activate specific feature sets without having to load a new Cisco IOS Software image. This new approach to software and service deployment and management will help customers improve image management and provide easier tracking for compliance and audits. More information at (http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2007/prod_011607b.html).

Power Resiliency

The Cisco Redundant Power System (RPS) 2300 seamlessly provides backup power for one or two of up to six attached devices, including Cisco Catalyst fixed-configuration switches and Cisco Integrated Services Routers. It automatically senses when a connected device has experienced an internal power-supply failure and immediately begins to deliver power to the device, providing continuous uptime.

Pricing and Scheduled Availability

Product                                                               List Price (USD)              Scheduled Availability
Cisco Catalyst 3750-E Series Switches            Starting at $9,495                Feb. 2007
Cisco Catalyst 3560-E Series Switches            Starting at $5,995                Feb. 2007
Cisco Catalyst 3560 Compact Switches            Starting at $1,395                Today
Cisco Catalyst 2960 Compact Switches            Starting at $895                   Today
8700W Enhanced AC Power Supply for the Catalyst 6500 Series Switches        
                                                                                $7,000                                   Feb. 2007
Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series ISSU                       $5,000                                  Today
(Special pricing available when purchased with switch configurations supporting Cisco Unified Communications)
Cisco Redundant Power System 2300             $2,195                                    Feb. 2007

Warranty and Service

The Cisco Catalyst 3560-E and 3750-E Series Switches are available with a standard 90-day limited hardware warranty. Cisco and its partners provide a broad portfolio of end-to-end services and support that help customers successfully deploy and operate Cisco technologies and optimize their performance throughout the lifecycle of the customer's network. For more information on the Cisco Services portfolio, please visit http://www.cisco.com/en/US/support/index.html.

For more information on the Cisco Catalyst switch portfolio, please visit www.cisco.com/go/catalyst.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco, (NASDAQ:CSCO), is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com.

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Source: Cisco Systems

Grid Computing Moves from Research to Industry

From 27th November to 1st December, ETSI, INRIA and the European Network of Excellence CoreGRID, led by ERCIM, co-organised at ETSI the 3rd "GRIDS@WORK" event and Grid Plugtests.

Over 200 delegates, representing 25 countries from all over the world, came to Sophia Antipolis, France, to discuss research projects and industrial requirements towards the implementation of grids as a key driver of tomorrow's 'Network-of-networks.'

The centre piece of the GRIDS@WORK week has been the two-day conference addressed by European Grid researchers and many industrial representatives. One of the themes was how grids will drive the creation of jobs and commercial products, targeting the enterprise market, promoting Grid sharing principles towards the creation of a service-oriented, utility-like infrastructure for business, industry and society.

Talking about the rate of progress, Franco Accordino, of the European Commission, spoke of Europe's achievement in creating a Grid 'lighthouse' for the world:

"Projects like CoreGRID have made significant contributions to develop European excellence in grids and achieve a European Research Area for the Grid. Projects like EGEE provide world-class infrastructures and support European researchers in their work. Now we are in an evolutionary phase where industrial partnerships have been established to exploit the economic potential of the Grid beyond research labs. This consistent portfolio of FP6 Grid research and deployment projects funded by the European Commission will significantly contribute to further advance European Excellence in Grid and boost Grid technology adoption and exploitation by industry and business."

A Roadmap to Grid Standardization to Solve Interoperability Issues

As Grid computing steps up as a key driver of tomorrow's 'Network-of-networks', ETSI GRID Technical Committee has started to work on defining formal European standards and test specifications for Grid interoperability. Standardization is essential to enable so many different pieces of hardware, software, operating systems, data bases etc, potentially spread all over the world, to interoperate and deliver a service as a unique resource.

Mike Fisher, BT, ETSI GRID Chairman, said during his industrial keynote address:

"There are many Grid stakeholders in the ETSI Membership, our challenge is to provide a bridge between the Grid standards and NGN (Next Generation Network) standards within the framework of the convergence of communications and IT networks. ETSI is the place to build that bridge."

Grid Plugtests -- A Contest to Demonstrate the Power of the Grid

Prizes have been awarded to the 'Eight Samurai' team from the University of Tokyo as the winner of the 3rd N-Queens Plugtests and to 'Kanban System', also from the University of Tokyo, as the winner of the FlowShop Contest. Both events ran on specially configured Grid infrastructure composed of more than 4.000 CPUs grouped into various places, from a handful of CPUs to hundreds in a site, many of them provided by the Grid'5000 testbed of the French ACI GRID. This Grid was organized and hosted by experts from ETSI Plugtests Service and INRIA OASIS joint team (INRIA-University of Nice Sophia Antipolis-CNRS I3S).

As explained by Denis Caromel, head of the OASIS team:

"Using the Open Source middleware ProActive, member of the ObjectWeb consortium, the competitors have been able to deploy over a very heterogeneous Grid, demonstrating strong progress of Grid technologies, both in efficiency and interoperability."

INRIA Plays a Major Role in Grid Development

INRIA, the French national institute for research in computer science and control, runs several projects on Grids: design of software enabling the use on a large scale of desktop equipment infrequently used; build software to access applications at Internet scale while optimizing data transfer with regards to the capacity of available networks; design models to program these infrastructures and be able to efficiently use very high-speed networks.

As stated by Thierry Priol, Senior Scientist at INRIA:

"At a national level, INRIA is deeply involved in the ACI GRID initiative and especially in the Grid'5000 project aiming at building a Grid testbed. At a European level, INRIA is the Scientific Coordinator of 3 projects: CoreGRID, the only Network of Excellence in Europe on grids and peer-to-peer technologies; XtreemOS, an integrated project aiming at adding new mechanisms to Linux to facilitate deployment of grids; and GridCOMP, whose objective is to design a programming model based on software components for grids."

CoreGRID, the Grid European Research Laboratory

CoreGRID, as the Network of Excellence on Grids and peer-to-peer technologies, has been funded by the European Commission through a grant of €8.2 million assigned for a duration of four years. As part of its objective to align both research and industry towards the construction of a sustainable Grid environment, the Network held its first CoreGRID Industrial Conference in Sophia Antipolis. To reinforce CoreGRID's commitment to take Grids out of the research labs and into industry, a new CoreGRID Industrial Fellowship Programme was launched, stimulating knowledge transfer.

"Through the organization of such an event, our Network of Excellence is advancing further towards sustainable integration by involving industrial stakeholders in defining strategies to achieve economic impact, becoming the European-wide research laboratory in distributed Grid, peer-to-peer and service-oriented technologies," said Bruno Le Dantec from ERCIM, in charge of CoreGRID's Administrative and Financial coordination.

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Source: CORDIS