Introducing the Cisco Network Convergence System
This month we’ve shown once again why Cisco is the industry leading supplier of service provider infrastructure technology.
Earlier this month we introduced the nPower family of network processors, which enable advanced capabilities like multi-terabit scale, programmability, high availability and performance…while delivering it all at the industry’s lowest cost and power per bit.
But we didn’t stop at the world’s most scalable and programmable network processor. Last week we introduced the industry’s first carrier-grade, high-performance convergence system designed to virtualize telecommunications services, simplify operations and consolidate infrastructure.
The Cisco NCS 2006
The Cisco Network Convergence System, or NCS. Comprised of three components that can be managed as a single integrated system for business agility, NCS delivers the first – and only – architecture solution in the industry.
Now there are a lot of truly amazing pieces to this announcement, such as the fact the NCS can transport the entire NetFlix library in less than one second in a full multi-chassis deployment. Or the fact that NCS enables our service provider partners to drive new, more efficient business models and deliver new experiences in the Internet of Everything. Or that the NCS 6000, which is available today, is capable of 5 Tbps per slot and 1.2Pbps per system.
But I’m incredibly proud of the work being done in Canada at our R&D facilities, and think the most amazing piece to this announcement comes in the shape of a maple leaf. Just as with our industry-leading CRS platform, Canadians had a significant hand in making the NCS family possible. Engineers in our Kanata R&D facility were some of the 450 worldwide that made this possible and were involved in ASIC development, testing and software for these products. My congratulations and thanks to all of you that worked hard on these products.
And that brings me to a question that we know many of you are asking. Does NCS mean the end of our CRS platform?
The answer, simply, is no. CRS continues to be the platform of choice for service providers in Canada and across the world, and just this summer we introduced an evolution of this – the CRS-X. We have no plans to end our CRS platform, and see a bright future for the entire product family. And in fact, when combined with our CRS and ASR families, the NCS acts as a central nervous system for the entire architecture, making it all work even better.
And the architecture does need to work better, and be capable of even more than we think possible. Why? Because the Internet of Everything will mean that service providers will be challenged to handle trillions of device driven events as a result of machine to machine (M2M) connections. And as a result, networks will need to scale not just bandwidth, but also compute and control functions. The NCS allows service providers to build out an Evolved Programmable Network – in short, exactly the kind of new, flexible network they will need in the coming era.
To learn more about the NCS family visit our website, watch this video of Surya Panditi, SVP and GM of our service provider group and follow #SystemForIoE on Twitter.
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