http://www.comms-express.com/news/networking/ en-gb Fri, 17 Aug 2012 8:00:04 BST Copyright: (C) Comms Express 2007 http://www.comms-express.com/images/logo.jpg http://www.comms-express.com/ computer cables - has made it one of the biggest and best known companies on the planet.

However, the company is moving away from its tried and trusted business model, and moving into new areas.

As part of its evolution, Dell is planning to focus more on high-end servers, appliances, and rack-mount virtualisation packages for the enterprise data centre.

"We've transformed our business. We're not really a PC company anymore," said chief executive officer Michael Dell.

He said the firm has been gradually turning itself into an end-to-end IT solutions provider.

Dell recently announced that it has more than doubled IT services revenues over the last three years, with this area now accounting for almost a third of global turnover.

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The start-up company specialises in the making of optical technology used in high-speed networking cables.

Cisco Systems reports that Lightwire's high-speed chips can be used to transmit data using light pulses rather than electric signals.

Surya Panditi, vice-president of Cisco's Service Provider Networking Group, said the purchase will support the firm's data centre and service provider customers.

It will equip them with the network tools to manage the continuing deluge of data traffic alongside tight capital and operating budgets, he told Network World.

Cisco recently announced it had beaten turnover estimates in the last three months, with net income rising to $2.18 billion (£1.37 billion) in the quarter to January 28th 2012.

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Last year, Broadband Delivery UK distributed £530 million in public funds to councils, in a bid to extend super-fast broadband coverage into the 'final mile' and reduce the growing digital divide.

However, progress has been slow in many areas, with countryside-based homes and businesses still reliant on copper-based network cables for internet services.

And in a bid to speed up the rural fibre cables rollout, the government is now threatening to withdraw funding.

Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, said he hoped such a threat would "put the fire up everyone's backsides".

"There is £530 million on the table to help deliver this, but I have to had to say that if broadband contracts aren't actually signed by the end of this year I will consider taking this back," he stated.

"I do not want this to get bogged down in paper procurement."

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Writing for The Register, Trevor Pott said that as firms push their cabling further, the requirements become more exacting.

He said that deploying CAT 6 cables right is "more difficult" that the old Cat 5 – and this may mean more network supplies are needed.

"There is less margin for error, better tools are required, the cost of certification testers climbs," Mr Pott stated.

"The same is true throughout the enterprise. RJ-11 phones are disappearing, replaced by IP phones dependent upon (at minimum) CAT 5. Fibre Channel is evolving, and even USB has several generations of cabling to keep track of."

Add in various flavours of fibre optics, coaxial, InfiniBand and so on, and converged networking starts to make a great deal of sense, he stated.

Speaking to the Yorkshire Post, Beverley ward city councillor Dave McCobb recently urged KC to expand its fibre broadband network to Hull University.

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The firm said it has replaced products from Cisco Systems with those of its own brands 3Com and ProCurve.

HP said all of its six internal next-generation data centres are now "Cisco-free" as a result of the move.

The networking accessories in question connect the data centres to one anther and to the World Wide Web.

A dispute broke out between HP and Cisco last year as the two began to encroach on one another's product territory.

In April, Cisco removed HP from its partner programme, so this latest move is seen as a form of retaliation by HP.

Ken Gray, vice president of infrastructure at HP's global information technology division, said: "This past April we said we'd be Cisco-free for core WAN routing and switching in our data centres and we are.

"We did it ahead of schedule and are seeing performance even better than we expected."

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The Voltaire Vantage 6048 top-of-rack switch has 48 separate ports of ten gigabit ethernet connectivity.

According to the manufacturer it also offers more CEE-compliant features than any other cloud computing switch on the market.

The device can be used with Voltaire's UFM software to enable virtual machine connectivity and mobility.

Asaf Somekh, vice president of marketing at Voltaire, explained: "Businesses relying on cloud architectures can attain a standard-based, modular infrastructure that can scale linearly from a single server rack to hundreds of racks with the same hardware and software building blocks."

The Vantage 6048 switch will be showcased at the VMworld exhibition in San Francisco, which is being held between August 30th and September 2nd.

Last month, Voltaire announced year-on-year revenue growth of 54 per cent for the second quarter of 2010.

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The company's Cisco Quad is an enterprise collaboration platform capable of integrating voice, video and social networking into a single workspace.

Notably, the networking technology has been designed to be accessible not only via a desktop computer but via Apple's iPhone and iPad devices, thereby making it ideally-suited to business users on the move.

In addition, the newly-unveiled software has also been developed to work alongside content management systems such as Microsoft's SharePoint.

"The enterprise collaboration platform offers real-time social software capabilities for the enterprise," stated Murali Sitaram, vice president and general manager for the enterprise collaboration platform business unit at Cisco.

"It's built on a bedrock of policy and security, and it's enabled through a unified communications fabric."

This follows on from the launch of the Cisco Small Business NSS 300 Series Smart Storage range.

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The company launched the Broadcom BCM84750 series, which is the industry's first 40-nanometer quad-channel ten gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) physical layer providing ultra low power consumption.

According to the semiconductors for wired and wireless communications solutions provider, the product is also capable of delivering savings of approximately 30 per cent over competing 65-nanometer CMOS solutions.

With this series, the convergence of 10GbE and fibre channel equipment in the data centre supporting unified networking and storage applications is possible, added the firm.

Businesses will also be able to achieve the same with high density, high bandwidth server applications, scaled to support 40GbE and 100GbE designs in the future.

Edgecore recently revealed that it is to integrate 10GbE technology into TigerStack 1000 high-performance stackable layer 3 switch platforms.]]> http://www.comms-express.com/news/networking/broadcom-corporation-unveils-new-equipment-networking-industry-news-19751413/ 2010-04-29 17:40:07
The infrastructure solutions for communications networks provider will have a comprehensive line-up of broadband, wireless and enterprise solutions at the events, including its Passive Optical Network (PON)

Expanded by the company recently, the PON is a BrightPath-compatible solution and its demonstration, alongside other products form the firm, highlights its shift to a multi-market connectivity solutions provider.

"The Broadband Solutions group's fibre-to-the-premises, hybrid fibre coax and subscriber drop solutions will take centre stage given the focus of these shows," said Ted Hally, executive vice president and chief commercial officer.

Running from May 11th to 13th, the Cable Show 2010 will feature leaders of the cable industry and a showcase of the latest products.

On the other hand, the ANGA Cable Show is an international trade fair for the cable broadband and satellite industries taking place from May 4th to 6th.

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The Primergy CX1000 is a new Cloud eXtension server that crams 38 nodes in a rack, providing a minimum saving of 20 per cent in power and cooling compared to a standard server rack assembly.

Crucially, hot air is also funnelled through the top of the server racks, rather than the back, meaning there is no need for a 'hot aisle' in the data centre.

Jens-Peter Seick, senior vice president of the x86 server product unit at Fujitsu, said: "Cloud computing demands have caught data centre operators in a vicious circle of performance and cost.

"With the Primergy CX1000 we're introducing a solution that goes beyond the scale-out performance envelope of rack servers - without blowing budgets - which is especially compelling in cloud computing environments."

Intel recently announced its latest offering for data centres, the Xeon Processor 5600 series, a chip that is aimed at providing a strong foundation for cloud computing.

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According to a report by Gartner, having a separate local area network (LAN) and a storage area network (SAN) may be the most efficient option as complexity increases when they are converged.

While in theory a converged system could cut down on the amount of network equipment needed, in practice it is not necessarily the case as extra switches are needed just to interconnect other switches.

Joe Skorupa, research vice president at Gartner, said: "The promise that a single converged data centre network would require fewer switches and ports doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

"Additionally, since more equipment is required, maintenance and support costs are unlikely to be reduced."

Many consumers have also begun adopting SAN solutions for their homes or businesses, with In-Stat predicting that the market will grow by 40 per cent between 2009 and 2014.

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Internet Facilitators Limited (IFL) will construct the facility, providing 22,000 sq ft of networking space in addition to 17,000 sq ft of serviced office space.

The company said that the new data centre will accommodate up to 1,000 server racks, allowing more customers access to its networking capabilities.

It will be built to Tier 3 standards and, using environmentally intelligent technology, IFL claims the centre will provide the "most efficient colocation facilities on the market".

Matthew Edgley, an account director at IFL, said: "Implementing pioneering 'free cooling' technology will allow us to maximise our energy efficiency, making the facility instantly attractive to clients with environmental concerns and those committed to reducing their carbon footprint.

Next Generation Data recently completed construction on a 750,000 sq ft tier 3 data centre, one of the largest in the world, in Newport.

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The Intel Xeon Processor 5600 series will enable faster encryption and decryption performance and are the company's first chips based on the 32nm logic technology.

Kirk Skaugen, vice president and general manager of the Intel Architecture Group, said: "The Intel Xeon Processor 5600 series will be the backbone of mainstream computing environments.

"Improvements in performance, server virtualisation and power consumption will foster productivity and efficiency for a broad range of applications ranging from data transactions to workstations performing medical imaging and digital prototyping."

Some of the key features of the new chips include their security enhancements, Intel TXT enabling a more secure platform launch environment and more protection for applications moving between virtualised servers.

IBM recently unveiled its own new networking equipment, the Power7 microprocessors, that promise to use less energy than their predecessors, the Power6.

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The company, which only introduced its Unified Computing System last year, has said that it too will start making the data centres which can be easily shipped and deployed, providing businesses with quick networking infrastructure.

A company spokesperson told eWeek: "Cisco's data centre solution has been integrated into containers as way for our customers to quickly and easily deploy data centre capabilities.

"A natural evolution of this is the Cisco Containerized Data Centre, although the exact form it will take has not yet been determined."

Cisco has previously supplied portable data centre solutions to the US military while its equipment has been used by other manufacturers too.

There has been much networking industry news recently surrounding the growth of the portable data centre market.

Other companies to enter the market have included Hewlett Packard, IBM and Sun Microsystems (now owned by Oracle).

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It is the first time the company is bringing fibre cables above ground, and will be used to bring fast broadband to rural areas that can't currently access it.

The move comes after BT announced that it would allow other companies to have access to its infrastructure to lay down cables.

Neil Berkett, chief executive of Virgin Media, said: "This unique trial will allow us to understand the possibilities of aerial deployment and may provide an exciting new way to extend next-generation broadband services."

The government has recently confirmed its commitment to bringing 2Mbps broadband around the country by 2012, although the Conservatives have come out with even more ambitious plans of 100Mbps services by 2017.

Concerns had been raised, however, by farming associations, who are worried that rural areas may get left behind as towns and cities get faster speeds.

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The facility, located in Newport, is a 750,000 sq ft tier 3 data centre and has cost £200 million to complete, according to ITWales.

Owned and operated by Next Generation Data, it has triple-skipped walls, bomb-proof glass and is surrounded by prison grade perimeter fencing quipped with state of the art security.

Welsh Assembly government minister for science, innovation and skills Lesley Griffiths said: "For a highly respected company such as Next Generation Data to locate and develop this site here in Newport sends out a strong, clear message.

"Next Generation Data will provide opportunities for higher level skills, including the technician base required to ensure the company, and economy, remains competitive far into the future."

In related networking industry news, Facebook recently announced that it is to build a giant data centre in Oregon.

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Located in North Lanarkshire, the facility, proposed by the Gillespie Investments Group, will be built on a 66-hectare site, according to the Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser.

Planning officials had initially recommended that the application be turned down. However, local council members decided to go against this advice by a vote of 35 to 10.

Gillespie representative Dr David Telford said that it was especially important that the data centre is built at this location, right next to an energy from waste plant.

He said: "Some data centres use as much power as a large town and the market is looking for renewable energy - companies like Microsoft, Google and Facebook want to be seen to be green.

"The energy from waste plant is an absolutely key location and is intrinsic to being able to attract key players to the site."

In related networking industry news, another development that may help data centres go green is fuel cell technology, which is currently being tested by companies such as Google.

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A great contributory factor to this is that many organisations still rely on manual management of servers rather than using tools.

However, the majority of organisations did recognise that data centre automation could help to reduce costs.

Chris Ingle, associate vice president of consulting at IDC, said: "European organisations have moved on in their approach to managing their data centre, compared to when we last surveyed on this subject in 2006.

"In particular, virtualisation and automation have brought ways to reduce cost and free up resources. However, there is still considerable potential to reduce cost by improving management."

Other important networking industry news surrounding data centres has included the issue of making them greener and reducing the amount of energy needed to keep them cool.

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A recent report by Badenoch & Clark said there was an increasing demand for IT specialists, especially for in-house training.

Alex Farrell, managing director at the IT Job Board, said the number of jobs advertised on his website grew from 13,000 in December 2009 to 23,000 in February.

He added: "As we climb out of recession confidence has begun to grow, companies are starting to re-build for growth as opposed to just 'surviving'.

"The economic climate has resulted in a strategy shift for many businesses. IT is a pivotal structure within any organisation, it is the bedrock for business globally."

An increase in IT recruitment could also signal an increase in investment into IT, meaning there may be demand for more nework supplies.

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In a post on the Google App Engine Group, a representative explains what went wrong on February 24th, when services were affected for around two hours, a major story within networking industry news.

A power failure was the initial cause of the outage, although the company has admitted that "internal procedural issues" also had an impact on the recovery.

As a result, some Google App Engine services were "degraded", affecting some of the firm's cloud computing services.

The company said: "Although we had procedures ready for this sort of outage, the on call staff was unfamiliar with them and had not trained sufficiently with the specific recovery procedure for this type of failure."

The incident shows how important the integrity of data centres has become. With many businesses and individuals relying on cloud computing for their activities, any outages can potentially be extremely disruptive.

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