The InformationWeek -- Blogs


Topics:   Hardware

  • Email this page E-mail this page
  • Print this page Print this page
  • Bookmark and Share
  • icon

Is The Network A Pipe Or A Platform?


Posted by Andy Dornan, Jul 25, 2007 10:11 PM

Web 2.0 has brought Sun's old slogan that The Network Is The Computer back into fashion, but few take it quite as literally as Cisco Systems. If Cisco gets its way, components like memory and processors will be linked by IP networks, not circuit boards.


Cisco outlined this vision while launching Data Center 3.0, a two-year push based on virtualization. The theory is that disk drives already have been moved outside the server, changing from locally installed component to virtual network resource. According to Cisco, the same will happen to everything else: If we can have storage area networks, why not RAM area networks? CPU area networks?

This is very much a long-term plan, not part of the initial Data Center 3.0 strategy. Long-term to Cisco means 10 years, which it says is within the life cycle of current products. So if you buy into Cisco's theory, you'd better buy networking gear that can handle and all this extra traffic.

And that doesn't just mean lots of bandwidth, at least according to Cisco (though, of course, it is happy to sell bigger and faster switches.) Network devices need to be smarter, too, able to look deep inside every packet and understand what's going on so that traffic can be sped up, slowed down, or blocked accordingly. These networked components also need to be combined into something usable. This is the role of Cisco's new VFrame DC appliance, the flagship Data Center 3.0 product. Cisco's intent with the VFrame box is to make the network programmable, essentially putting the newly networked resources back together again into virtual servers.

Behind all this is Cisco's search for something new to do. It dominates networking to such an extent that mere increases in market share can't bring growth at anything like the rate priced into its stock. It needs to grow the networking business itself, and its favorite (but not its only) way is to take a very expansive view of networking. People who wouldn't buy a Cisco server might buy a Cisco virtualized server resource.

Making the network do more is an obvious winner in the carrier market, where it fits with carriers' own desire to extracting value beyond simple packet delivery. AT&T doesn't want to be loaning out pipes any more than Cisco wants to be building them. It's also why Cisco initially came out so strongly against network neutrality. But does it make sense for enterprise customers?

As users decide, servers and switches will increasing overlap. Cisco also will increasingly compete with server vendors. The more server functions are outsourced across the network, the less there is for servers to do.

« Crackpot Analysts Way Off On iPhone Sales | Main | What Do We Really Want From Linux? »



Sign Up Now
For InformationWeek News Alerts




This is a public forum. United Business Media and its affiliates are not responsible for and do not control what is posted herein. United Business Media makes no warranties or guarantees concerning any advice dispensed by its staff members or readers.

Community standards in this comment area do not permit hate language, excessive profanity, or other patently offensive language. Please be aware that all information posted to this comment area becomes the property of United Business Media LLC and may be edited and republished in print or electronic format as outlined in United Business Media's Terms of Service.

Important Note: This comment area is NOT intended for commercial messages or solicitations of business.




 
 

  1. Sequential Programming: Like Eating Peas with a Straw.
  2. Biomolecular device using self-assembled DNA nanostructures?
  3. Coreinfo v2.0: A Simple Utility to Understand the Manycore Complexity in Windows


Join The InformationWeek Group On LinkedIn


                           


  1. Too Much Netbook For Too Litl?
  2. Sprint And T-Mobile Headed The Wrong Direction
  3. More Reasons Why Linux Misses The Desktop
  4. Windows 7 Is Broken, So What?


  1. Florida Hospital Dials Up iPhones For Nurses
  2. Is Antivirus Software Dead?
  3. Securing The Cyber Supply Chain
  4. CIO Profiles: Christopher Rence, Chief Information And Business Transformation Officer Of FICO
  5. InformationWeek Analytics Research: Federated Search
  6. Practical Analysis: The Fastest-Growing Security Threat

 

  Ars Technica
Boing Boing
Channel 9 Forums
CRN Blogs
Dr.Dobb's Portal: Blogs
Engadget
Gizmodo
GrokLaw
  Lifehacker
Schneier on Security
Slashdot
TechCrunch
Techdirt
Techmeme
Valleywag

  DECEMBER 2008
NOVEMBER 2008
OCTOBER 2008
SEPTEMBER 2008
AUGUST 2008
JULY 2008
JUNE 2008
MAY 2008
  APRIL 2008
MARCH 2008
FEBRUARY 2008
JANUARY 2008
DECEMBER 2007
NOVEMBER 2007
OCTOBER 2007
SEPTEMBER 2007