Cisco Outlines Cloud Framework

Like every IT vendor these days, Cisco Systems has talked up the cloud for some time. But now, it has a new umbrella cloud strategy.

The networking giant on Tuesday outlined its framework aimed at tying together private, hybrid and public clouds using its network gear, datacenter infrastructure and apps and services.

The framework, called CloudVerse, is designed to enable customers and partners to construct, connect and manage public, private and hybrid clouds, as well as cloud-based applications.

CloudVerse brings together three of the company's key segments:

• Unified Data Center, which includes integrated servers, access networking, storage networking and the management of those components.
  
  
• Cloud Intelligent Network, the networking components and management infrastructure aimed at providing connectivity and automation among multiple clouds, including its Nexus and Catalyst switches, and other routers, firewalls and related hardware and software.
  
  
• Cloud Applications and Services, Cisco's portfolio of cloud collaboration offerings, including its WebEx and TelePresence services.

The launch of CloudVerse comes just one week after Cisco released its first Cloud Index Report, where it forecast twelvefold growth in cloud computing traffic between 2010 and 2015 to 1.6 zettabytes of data. Cisco sees an opportunity to use its presence as a leading supplier of network automation gear to bring together stove-piped clouds and datacenters.

"Until now cloud technology resided in silos, making it harder to build and manage clouds, and to interconnect multiple clouds, posing critical challenges for many organizations," said Padmasree Warrior, Cisco's senior VP of engineering and chief technology officer, in a statement.

Cisco announced several cloud providers and enterprises that are already using CloudVerse, including Fujitsu, LinkedIn, Qualcomm, Silicon Valley Bank, Verizon's Terremark subsidiary and Xerox's Affiliated Computer Services (ACS).

While CloudVerse is a framework that brings together existing products and services, Cisco announced some key new offerings that will advance its aim toward bringing together existing cloud silos.

Among them are Cisco Intelligent Automation for the Cloud, an offering that includes automated cloud provisioning and an on-demand orchestration engine; Cisco Network Services Manager 5.0, which lets organizations combine existing network and cloud resources into a multi-tenant datacenter architecture; and its Cloud-to-Cloud Connect based on Cisco's Network Positioning System (NPS), a technology that exposes network intelligence to the cloud.

NPS will be included with Cisco's forthcoming Aggregation Services Routers 1000 and 9000, due out next year. Cisco said the new routers will provide network automation between datacenters and clouds.

Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on December 06, 2011