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Confidential Insieme Networks slide presentation: Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI)

Cisco's so late to the software defined networking (SDN) paradigm, it's been forced to rebrand and market its Insieme and SDN initiative as new marchitecture called Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI).

Mon, 7/15/13 - 3:20pm    View comments

Update: 10/18/2013 - 1:59pm

Network World: Cisco/Insieme 40G coming in close to 10G

"Merchant silicon will be used for basic Layer 2 switching, Layer 3 routing and VXLAN overlay, while the Insieme ASIC will be used for buffering, virtual output queuing and VXLAN routing. ACI will be founded on VXLAN, with Insieme hooks in the VXLAN header for additional application identification and traffic classification. Within each VXLAN, traffic can be classified and policies applied to millions of applications, sources say."
 

3-days ago Business Insider enterprise computing editor Julie Bort revealed:

"Insieme's custom chips, called ASICs, are so far behind schedule that Cisco is going to have to use standard off-the-shelf chips from chip maker Broadcom in its first-generation SDN device."

However earlier this morning, I learned that Insieme senior vice president, Soni Jiandani, is very adamant about insisting that there are absolutely no issues with Insieme's custom ASIC development.

Meanwhile late last month, JP Morgan analyst Rod Hall had this to say about Cisco:

"SDN puts future EPS at risk. Reiterate Underweight."

To say that Wall Street's not happy with Cisco's candor on Insieme and SDN is quite frankly an understatement.

I mean, Cisco's so late to the software defined networking (SDN) paradigm, it's been forced to rebrand and market its Insieme and SDN initiative as:

Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI)

So what's application centric infrastructure? Well, its certainly not found on Wikipedia that's for sure. However, the following "confidential" slide presentation from Insieme senior vice president Soni Jiandani provides more detail on Cisco and Insieme's new marchitecture, application centric infrastructure:

Source: Cisco Systems

Source: Cisco Systems

Source: Cisco Systems

Source: Cisco Systems

Source: Cisco Systems

Finally, respected Cisco CCIE #6920 Routing and Switching, Greg Ferro, hobnobbed with Cisco CEO John Chambers at Cisco Live! in Orlando last month:

But what caught my attention was Ferro's take on Cisco and Insieme's Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI):

"Cisco is clearly not leading the marketing and technology of Software Defined Networking. It's clear that the marketing folks have decided to call it 'Application Centric Infrastructure' in an attempt to build a naming convention that Cisco can control and direct."

Related story:

Network World: Cisco/Insieme 40G coming in close to 10G
 

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