Cisco has released the Cisco Borderless Access architecture with lower-cost Catalyst 3560/3750-X Series and 2960-S Series switches. Part of Cisco's Borderless Networks architecture, the new Borderless Access switches offer 10-gigabit Ethernet and power savings of as much as 50 percent. The new Cisco switches will compete with ProCurve.
Cisco on Wednesday released a new network Relevant Products/Services architecture that promises secure wired and wireless communications Relevant Products/Services, energy Relevant Products/Services management, and optimized video-application delivery -- all at a lower cost. Dubbed Cisco Borderless Access, the latest version of the company's Borderless Networks architecture includes a new series of fixed-switching product lines: the Catalyst 3560/3750-X Series and 2960-S Series. The new lines come with lower prices than traditional Cisco switches.
As part of the product announcement, Rob Soderbery, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco's Ethernet Switching Technology Group, noted that communications, collaboration Relevant Products/Services and entertainment are fast becoming digitized and connected. This trend, he said, is not only loading networks but also changing them.
"Switching and routing are the foundation for innovation that will bring the next generation of the Internet to life," Soderbery said. "Cisco's strategy is to deliver greater value within its core networking Relevant Products/Services offerings and, in turn, provide customers with a more cohesive, architecturally sound IT infrastructure Relevant Products/Services to support the new Internet."
Building on the Borderless Vision
Borderless Access builds on the Borderless Networks vision Cisco rolled out last October and the Cisco Secure Borderless Networks announcement earlier this month. The Borderless Networks architecture works to, as Cisco put it, "help businesses connect anyone to anything, anywhere and anytime in a highly secure, reliable and seamless environment."
The new Catalyst 3750-X and 3560-X enterprise-class stackable and stand-alone switches offer high-performance Relevant Products/Services switching with 10-gigabit Ethernet. Cisco also introduced StackPower, a power Relevant Products/Services-interconnect technology that brings power resiliency to a stack of Catalyst 3750-X Series switches. Cisco said a single 1,100-watt power supply can provide power to four switches and the mission-critical endpoints attached to them to help ensure business continuity.
Meanwhile, the Catalyst 2960-S Series offers more access portions and performance than previous models, including FlexStack stacking for increased availability and performance, 10GE uplinks, and EnergyWise capabilities. Cisco said it has optimized the switch to offer as much as 50 percent power savings.
No More Dwarfs
"These products are tactically important in that Cisco did have a pretty big hole in its product line. Cisco is known as a premium-priced vendor, and the company didn't have a stackable Cisco product that appealed to the value buyer," said Zeus Kerravala, a vice president at Yankee Group. "I know that's where ProCurve has been giving Cisco problems, so this helps address a lot of short-term tactical issues."
Kerravala called the new switches "reasonably priced products" that offer newer Cisco feature sets that integrate well into the Borderless Network strategy. Until now, he said, companies that bought into the Cisco vision and needed a product that could fit a smaller work group or branch office had to face a tough decision: Either overspend on the higher-end product or use a different feature set. The new switches help Cisco compete in an evolved competitive landscape.
"Five years ago we used to talk about Cisco and the seven dwarfs. The dwarfs for the most part are all dead. 3Com was the last of them, and they are now part of HP. So instead of their competitors being Foundry, 3Com and Nortel, it's Brocade, Juniper, HP, and IBM Relevant Products/Services through their OEM relationships," Kerravala said.
"Cisco can't just outmuscle dwarfs anymore. They've got some serious competitors, and because of that they need to start building a broader range of products. That's what these switches do. It's not as fun as the product that changes the world, but it addresses a more immediate need."
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