“Unified Edge” created in a way that allows even retail staff to swap out a server
Cisco joined the server market in 2009 as the company believed existing vendors were not meeting customer needs. On Monday, the networking leader stepped into the edge infrastructure market for the same rationale.
Switchzilla’s launch into the market is called the “Unified Edge,” a term that highlights its view that infrastructure deployed outside the datacenter should combine computing, storage, and networking components. The company has therefore developed this new product for businesses that require infrastructure across multiple sites—such as retailers with numerous stores or manufacturers needing dozens of servers in various locations—but are weary of handling separate servers, storage, and networks from different suppliers.
Cisco’s solution is a 3U rack-mounted unit known as the UCS XE9305, along with new half-depth components—UCS servers equipped with a Xeon 6 processor—and a Catalyst 8200 router that features a built-in firewall—which can be placed in one of the five available slots. A 25G backplane connects all these elements.
The frame measures only 18 inches (45.7 cm) in depth, which is less than typical datacenter racks since Cisco believes edge sites aren’t big enough for larger units. The fans located at the back of the frame can still function well even when placed directly against a wall. Additionally, the frame can be positioned on its side—imagine a vertical orientation for edge equipment.
Administrators manage the devices within the chassis using Cisco’s SaaS-like Intersight management tool. Jeremy Foster, general manager of Compute at Cisco, mentioned to The Register that Cisco developed Intersight to oversee datacenters with thousands of servers, while also making sure it can manage thousands of edge locations, each containing three or more servers and running software from Nutanix, Red Hat, and VMware – the three vendors Cisco currently supports for this product.
Cisco depends on the platforms’ capability to provide software-defined storage. Since Cisco’s servers allow the use of two M.2 solid-state drives and up to four E3.S NVMe drives, capacity should not be a concern.
The frame is built in a way that allows personnel without IT expertise, like managers in a retail setting, to handle maintenance. As a result, servers can be hot-swapped, enabling remote technicians through Intersight to activate them.
Certain servers within the Unified Edge chassis are capable of incorporating GPUs, showcasing Cisco’s view that AI is significant at the edge—particularly for tasks such as computer vision. Foster believes that as CPU manufacturers enhance their products’ capacity to manage inference workloads, the Unified Edge will offer a more compelling option for AI tasks.
Cisco only starts to seriously consider new products when it sees a major opportunity for profit. According to Foster, speaking to The Register, Cisco believes this product will succeed because although users think companies like HPE, Lenovo, and Dell offer good hardware, they aren’t able to combine it with integrated networking and security, along with management tools that bring everything together.
Unified Edge is indeed a highly Cisco-focused solution, embodying the company’s fundamental conviction that combined networking and security are crucial, and that more easily managed servers are important. The product can be ordered now and will ship in December. ®
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