Network News: Dell, Cisco, Broadcom

Here’s our review of some of today’s noteworthy links for the networking sector of the data center industry:

Dell strengthens virtual network architecture. Dell announced new hardware and software additions to its Virtual Network Architecture portfolio, an open networking framework for efficient IT management and workload intelligence. The new Dell Force10 MXL 10/40GbE switch is Dell's first 40 gigabit blade server switch for the Dell PowerEdge M1000e blade system. The Dell Force10 MXL is suited for diverse needs such as data centers in large enterprises, government networks, education and research institutions, and high performance computing. Key benefits of the new switch include built-in Ethernet stacking technology, integrated storage support, and networking flexibility with FlexIO modules. Dell also announced Dell Fabric Manager, a new offering designed expressly for configuring, managing and monitoring Dell Distributed Core deployments in data centers. Dell introduced the fifth version of Open Manage Network Manager, (OMNM) a single console for all network management functions of existing and future Dell networking platforms in branch, campus and data center networks. "As customers move to embrace 10GbE across their IT operations, including servers, storage and networking, Dell is the clear choice to help in all these areas," said Dario Zamarian, vice president and general manager, Dell Networking. "Dell is helping its customers optimize their infrastructure today while architecting for greater intelligence and capability into the future."

Cisco launches new Industrial switches. Cisco Systems (CSCO) announced the Industrial Ethernet (IE) 2000 switch series, a cornerstone product for the company's Connected Industries business unit and industrial network offerings. The new IE 2000 switch series delivers network connectivity to unique manufacturing environments. "Major sectors of the economy are undergoing a transformation driven by new requirements around production and factory automation, traffic management, data analytics and machine-to-machine communication," said Maciej Kranz, vice president and general manager, Connected Industries business unit at Cisco.  "Cisco's Connected Industries business unit was created to help customers realize the benefits of the transition to Ethernet and IP across the operational technology segments including manufacturing plants, transportation infrastructure and vehicles."

Broadcom introduces 100Gbps duplex network processor.  Broadcom Corporation (BRCM) announced a 100 Gbps full duplex network processor unit (NPU). Enabling the next wave of 100GbE optimized switches and routers for service provider networks, the fully programmable BCM88030 family features 64 custom processors running at 1GHz, delivering more than 2X the throughput of any NPU on the market. The new BCM88030 solution eliminates costly external components, reducing system cost and power by up to 80 percent per 10GbE port. The BCM88030 product family delivers a feature-rich application at 100GbE full duplex for complex service provider switching and routing requirements. "Our service provider customers are demanding high density 100GbE platforms over the next year," said Toshio Suzuki, General Manager, IP Network Division at NEC Corporation. "Only Broadcom's BCM88030 100GbE NPU provides us with the performance and density to meet these stringent requirements in a fully-programmable solution.  Broadcom's BCM88030 100GbE NPU is unmatched in its ability to provide us with the flexibility to meet the constantly changing demands of our customers as well as the performance to drive line rate 100GbE full-duplex performance in a single device."