Cisco finds route into blade server market

TAKING NO PRISONERS, Cisco has hurled itself headlong into the data centre market, unveiling its Unified Computing System combining server, data storage, virtualisation and network capabilities all into one happy bundle.

The UCS purportedly has a capacity for eight blades and can use either VMware or Microsoft virtualisation tech and, according to Cisco, will push down data centre costs and energy consumption by consolidating computing power into fewer boxes whilst having more efficient components and cooling systems.

Cisco is also cosying up to Intel and using the firm's next-generation Xeon server microprocessors in a move which is sure to have AMD sobbing quietly in a corner somewhere.

"The new blade server architecture is entirely based on unified fabric and 10 GE so LAN and SAN traffic are using one common cabling system," a Cisco spokesman told the INQ, adding, "The concept of service profiles will provide enormous flexibility in the way IT administrators will be able to provision new applications and new servers."

Cisco's former partners and now biggest rivals won't be jumping for joy at the news, however, with HP, Sun, IBM and Dell gnashing their teeth as they watched their stock fall in the hours after the announcement.

The move is likely to force data centre competitors to slash prices to win the hearts and wallets of businesses with ever-shrinking IT budgets, something HP and co are likely to find more than a tad irritating. Still, in a blog post, Cisco insists its data center move will add value rather than take it from entrenched players.

"This is not the 'Clash of the Titans' or us 'coming after HP or IBM or Dell'. Some companies may choose to join us in this market, others may continue to operate the status quo," the firm noted.

But Cisco also isn't kidding itself that companies are suddenly going to rip their existing data centres from the wall and replace them immediately with shiny new UCS ones. Cisco is planning on playing the long-term game, hoping to win rack-by-rack as older data facilities are revamped.

It remains to be seen how successful Cisco will be, but watch this space and we might just get a glimpse of serv(er)vival of the fittest. µ