NWC News Network, July 16 2008, 1800 hrs
Continuing to fulfill and expand the Cisco Data Center 3.0 initiative, Cisco announced new products and professional services that will help customers virtualize data centers for greater operational and energy efficiency. The new offerings make the virtual network a highly efficient platform for delivering data center services-accelerating, providing security, and orchestrating application delivery networks, servers, virtualized computing, and storage while providing greater responsiveness and resource conservation.
The company’s Data Center 3.0 announcements include Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) software release 4.1 offering virtualized application hosting services, greater application acceleration and video delivery for the branch office, Cisco Application Control Engine (ACE) software release 3.1 for the ACE 4710 application switch offering up to 4 gigabits per second (Gbps) of throughput and up to 2 Gbps of compression capability and multimedia readiness on a virtualized platform and Cisco VFrame Data Center software release 1.2 offering end-to-end infrastructure provisioning with Cisco ACE and VMware ESX.
“By virtualising the resources of a data centre, an enterprise can offer services across the globe from a single centralised data centre, thereby reducing operational cost and increasing asset effectiveness. With these technologies, Cisco aims to help businesses achieve the agility and resiliency they need, to compete on a global scale,” said Sumit Mukhija, National Sales Manager, Data Centre, Cisco India and SAARC.
Cisco WAAS software release 4.1 is scheduled to be available for download in Q3, CY08. WAAS Live Video Streaming and WAAS Virtualization are separately licensed features with pricing starting at USD 2500 per device. The other WAAS 4.1 features included in the WAAS Enterprise License are available at no charge to Cisco WAAS Enterprise License customers with Cisco SmartNet Software and Support with Upgrades (SASU) Contracts. Cisco ACE software release 3.1 for the ACE Appliance is scheduled to be available in Q3, CY08 and is offered at no charge for Cisco SmartNet customers; the additional Cisco ACE Appliance 2Gbps to 4Gbps upgrade throughput license is priced at USD 15,000. The Cisco ACE Appliance compression license is priced at USD 20,000 for a 2Gbps compression license, USD 10,000 for a 500 Mbps to 2Gbps compression upgrade license, and USD 5,000 for a 1 Gbps to 2 Gbps compression upgrade license. Cisco VFrame Version 1.2 is schduled to be available on both primary and secondary appliances with a base starter kit of USD 59,995; VFrame 1.2 will be available in Q3, CY08.
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