CISCO: Next Gen UCS servers for Next Gen Computing

Series of interactive articles on Unified Computing System, enabling CIOs to better manage their IT infrastructure

How has Cisco made server

I/O more powerful and

much simpler?

Answer: One of the key differentiators of Cisco UCS (Unified Computing System) with Intel Xeon

processor is the way in which highcapacity server network access has

been aggregated through Cisco

Virtual Interface Cards and infused

with built-in high performance virtual

networking capabilities. In pre-UCS

server system architectures, one

of the main design considerations

was the type and quantity of physical network adapters required.

Networking, combined with computing sockets/cores/frequency/cache,

system memory, and local disk are

historically the primary resources

considered in the balancing act of cost,

physical space and power consumption, all of which are manifested in the

various permutations of server designs

required to cover the myriad of workloads

most efficiently. Think of these as your four

server subsystem food groups. Architecture purists will remind us that everything

outside the processors and their cache

falls into the category of I/O but lets not

get pedantic because that will mess up my

food group analogy.

In Cisco UCS, I/O is effectively taken

off the table as a design worry because

every server gets its full USRDA of networking through the VIC: helping portions of bandwidth, rich with Fabric

Extender technology vitamins that yield

hundreds of Ethernet and FC adapters through one physical device.

Gone are the days of hemming and hawing over how many mezz card slots your

blade has or how many cards youre going

to need to feed that hungry stack of VMs on

your rack server.

This simplification changes things for the

better because it takes a lot of complication

out of the equation.

How has Cisco made server I/O more powerful and much simpler?

Answer: One of the key differentiators of Cisco UCS (Unified Computing System) with Intel Xeon processor is the way in which highcapacity server network access has been aggregated through Cisco Virtual Interface Cards and infused with built-in high performance virtual networking capabilities. In pre-UCS server system architectures, one of the main design considerations was the type and quantity of physical network adapters required.

Networking, combined with computing sockets/cores/frequency/cache, system memory, and local disk are historically the primary resources considered in the balancing act of cost, physical space and power consumption, all of which are manifested in the various permutations of server designs required to cover the myriad of workloads most efficiently. Think of these as your four server subsystem food groups. Architecture purists will remind us that everything utside the processors and their cache falls into the category of I/O but lets not get pedantic because that will mess up my food group analogy.

In Cisco UCS, I/O is effectively taken off the table as a design worry because every server gets its full USRDA of networking through the VIC: helping portions of bandwidth, rich with Fabric Extender technology vitamins that yield hundreds of Ethernet and FC adapters through one physical device. Gone are the days of hemming and hawing over how many mezz card slots your blade has or how many cards youre going to need to feed that hungry stack of VMs on your rack server. This simplification changes things for the better because it takes a lot of complication out of the equation.

There is also a need for higher processing power for bringing new choices for design optimization. What is happening on this front?

Answer: Cisco has been working hard making server networking better with improved and optimized efficiency. With the advent and advance of multi-core processing, the workhorse two socket server has become a real performance monster. In fact, for some applications the amount processing power required, relative to the other food groups I mentioned in my previous answer, is outstripped by the capabilities of the mainstream processor family, which in todays incarnation is Intels Xeon E5 2600 series.

In response to this phenomenon, Intel subdivided the Xeon lineup to include a new EN class of processors, the E5-2400 series, which ease back on the gas pedal of Moores law for designs that dont require as much processing power in relation to local storage and memory. This creates a new class of cost & performance optimized systems for lighter workloads or for storage heavy systems (think big data) at the entry end of the portfolio.

Three of our new UCS M3 series systems fall in this category: the B22, C22 and C24. At the same time, Intel has brought four socket server options, formerly the province of the mission critical, EX end of the spectrum, down into the mainstream. An example of this is our new UCS B420 blade. So if you want four socket core count and performance but dont necessarily need the comprehensive RAS features of an EX class system, you now have a price/performance optimized solution for that need.

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