Cisco sets to push the "datacentre anywhere" vision further as it makes a number of announcements across networking, hyperconvergence, security and automation, including expansions of both Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) and HyperFlex.
“Enterprises should be able to deploy applications based on the needs of their business, not the limitations of their technology,” the company says. “Customers want to deploy applications and manage data across a range of diverse platforms, from on-premises to cloud-based. That is why we are taking the ‘center’ out of the data center. Today, Cisco is helping our customers expand their reach into every cloud, every data center, and every branch.”
Launched back in 2013, ACI is an intent-based datacentre networking centre with an "uniquely open" approach integrating with all hypervisors and container frameworks. Virtual ACI supports for bare metal clouds and remote edge locations, while ACI Anywhere extends ACI to any workload, in any location, as it brings automation, management and security capabilities to both AWS and Microsoft Azure, integrating with their Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) environments.
Meanwhile HyperFlex for Branch promises to seamlessly extend computing and storage from core datacentres to the edges of operations, with flexible scalability and cloud-powered systems management. Cisco says HyperFlex deliverse "datacentre-class application performance" in branch offices and remote sites, enabling analytics and intelligent services at the enterprise edge.
To make the management of applications across multiple public and private clouds easier Cisco updates the CloudCenter Suite with full application lifecycle management, greater workflow automation and enhanced cost optimisation and governance. The suite also promises simpler deployment tiered pricing, with 3 subscription-based licenses available as self-hosted or SaaS.
The above mentioned Cisco offerings will be available in European territories from Q2 2019.
