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Data Center Switching

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Building Next-Generation Data Centers

Resource virtualization is central to the Cisco Data Center Business Advantage architectural framework. It helps you reduce costs in three ways:

  • Increases asset utilization
  • Improves business resilience
  • Enhances responsiveness to business needs

These next-generation virtualized data centers need a network infrastructure that delivers the full potential of technologies such as server virtualization and unified fabric. In addition, they support shifts to broader architectures such as the Cisco Unified Computing System and cloud computing.

Featured Products

Cisco Nexus 5000 Series

Cisco Nexus 5000 Series

Discover the Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switch, a breakthrough in data center design.

Cisco Nexus 7000 Series

Cisco Nexus 7000 Series

Use switches designed for your mission-critical data centers.

Increase Switching Capacity and Resiliency

Scale virtualization for high performance with Cisco FabricPath.

Cisco Nexus 2000 Series

Flexible, Scalable Server Access Layer Solution

Shift to 10 Gigabit Ethernet with Cisco Nexus fabric extenders.

Data centers are central to your organization's success, meeting demands for system availability, asset utilization, and security. Regulatory requirements, a global operating environment, and empowered users add to the pressure. And data centers must be agile enough to change quickly.

The Cisco Data Center Switching Portfolio can help you meet those demands:

  • Design flexibility: Modular, rack, and integrated switches are optimized for Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet.
  • Industry-leading switching: Layer 2 and 3 functions help build stable, highly secure, scalable data centers.
  • Investment protection: The adaptability of the Cisco Nexus and Cisco Catalyst families simplifies upgrades.
  • Operational consistency: A consistent interface and tools simplify management, operations, and trouble resolution.
  • Virtualization: Support virtual machine mobility, management, and operations.

Migrate from Gigabit Ethernet to 100 Gb Ethernet

  • The Cisco Catalyst 4900M rack switch is designed for easy migration from Gigabit Ethernet to 10 Gigabit Ethernet.
  • The Cisco Nexus 7000 switches support Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet.
  • Additional switches help you migrate cost-effectively to 40 and 100 Gigabit Ethernet and Unified Fabric.

Virtualize for Greater Efficiency

  • The Cisco Nexus 1000V delivers VN-Link networking to enhance virtual machine portability.
  • The Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series offers the virtual switching system.
  • The Cisco Nexus 7000 Series offers hypervisorlike virtual switching.

Cisco Nexus Family

Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches

Get a highly resilient, high-performance, feature-rich unified fabric solution in a single platform for data center core, aggregation, and high-density server connectivity.

Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Switches

Next-generation unified fabric rack switches can reduce the cost and complexity of the server access network.

Cisco Nexus 4000 Series Switches

Get high-performance 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Data Center Ethernet (DCB), and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) switches for x-86 based blade servers.

Cisco Nexus 3000 Series Switches

Use high-performance, high-density, submicrosecond latency 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch for high-frequency trading (HFT).

Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders

Ease migration from Gigabit Ethernet to 10 Gigabit Ethernet through simplified management, and reduce infrastructure costs.

Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switches

Software switches deliver VN-Link virtual-machine-aware networking.

Cisco Data Center Manager

Cisco Data Center Manager

Simplify operations of highly virtualized and unified next-generation networks and increase uptime with Cisco Data Center Network Manager.

Cisco Catalyst Switches

Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switches

With industry-leading services and performance, this is the most flexible Cisco switching solution.

Cisco Catalyst 6500 Virtual Switching System

Network virtualization improves data center performance and resilience.

Cisco Catalyst 4900 Series Switches

Get optimized rack switching and, with the Cisco 4900M Switch, cost-effective migration to 10 Gigabit Ethernet.

Cisco Unified Computing System

An integrated platform, the Cisco Unified Computing System is architecturally consistent with the Cisco Nexus family.

Brochures


White Papers


Cisco Design and Planning Best Practices

  • Design Zone for Data Centers
    Learn how to develop a comprehensive, secure, and extensible data center network architecture using validated Cisco best-practice designs.
  • Cisco Data Center Assurance Program
    Find out how to plan your data center network implementation based on a comprehensive design that reflects extensive system-level testing.
Featured Content

Miercom Tests Cisco and Arista Switches
Results are in: Cisco Nexus 5010 Switch performs better than Arista 7124S in high-frequency trading.

Disaster Recovery Using Virtualization ( PDF - 1.7 MB)
Six companies tested a multivendor disaster-recovery solution for SAP ERP environments.

Data Center of the Future
Learn how you can build the data center of the future today using technology and best practices from Cisco and its partners.

Energy-Efficient Unified Fabrics
Discover how Cisco Nexus series Unified Fabric transforms data center infrastructure.

University Reduces Cost by 50% with FCoE (Video - 4:06 min)
Cisco and University of Arizona discuss the benefits of Unified Fabric

More Resources
Presentations (1)

New Data Center Switching Innovations

Q&A (1)

Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series 8-Port 10 Gigabit Ethernet Module QA

White Papers (5)

Cloudera Hadoop Infrastructure with Cisco UCS Servers and Cisco Nexus Switches (PDF - 1 MB)

Data Center Switching Solutions White Paper

Deploying 10GBASE-T with Cisco Catalyst Switches: Choose the Right Cabling

Solace Message Routers and Cisco Ethernet Switches: Unified Infrastructure for Financial Services Middleware

The Adaptive Architecture for the Data Center Network

Case Studies (2)

Cisco Aims to Improve Power Usage in Data Centers

Orbitz Travel Leader Achieves More Reliable Uptime for Consumer Web Brands (PDF - 360 KB)
10 Gigabit Ethernet Technologies

Data Center Interconnect

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