Cisco Goes All-In on AI with Data Center, Connectivity and Networking OfferingsCisco Goes All-In on AI with Data Center, Connectivity and Networking Offerings

Cisco used its Cisco Live EMEA event in Amsterdam to outline a product roadmap centered around AI as it announced new data center, connectivity and networking offerings.

The vendor revealed its N9300 Series Smart Switches that come with embedded data processing units (DPUs). These DPUs enable services to be embedded directly into the switching layer. Cisco also announced new AI connectivity tools for service providers.

A Look at the N9300 Smart Switches

DPUs are specialized processors capable of running workloads that other processors can't. They're primarily found in servers and enable functions to be offloaded from the CPU. These functions can include analytics, security and encryption.

The N9300 devices use Cisco's Silicon One E100 processor and AMD Pensando DPUs to offload complex data processing tasks to the DPU, improving both network architecture and security. The Cisco switch uses Silicon One for network-specific functions and the AMD DPU for security. Traffic is steered between the engines to deliver optimal performance, according to Cisco.

The DPUs also enable Cisco to embed services that can run in the switch instead of an overlay. Cisco said the first service to be embedded is its security offering, Cisco Hypershield.

Hypershield for Data Center Security

The combination of smart switches and Hypershield creates a new model for data center security. Typically, a data center network relies on an overlay model with firewalls to prevent lateral movement. The challenge with this overlay model is threefold:

With Hypershield embedded into the new smart switch, network teams can place enforcement points within the data center fabric and centrally manage them. In theory, security can be applied to every port, enabling pervasive enforcement across the network instead of at only select points.

Cisco switches have always had some security capabilities, but such a protective blanket couldn't scale without the DPU. Hypershield reduces the number of appliances and enables data center operators to create a micro-perimeter around each service that makes up a workload, limiting the effect of any breach.

Users can combine the new switches and Hypershield with Cisco Firewall Threat Defense, new AI defense capabilities and security cloud control to deliver a hybrid mesh firewall configured to protect AI applications in the data center and public cloud.

Availability of Cisco N9300 Smart Switch

The first available Cisco N9300 Smart Switch, featuring 24 100G ports, will ship this spring. A top-of-rack model with 48 25G ports, six 400G ports and two 100G ports is scheduled to ship this summer. Cisco said its first Silicon One-powered 8000 series will also ship this spring, with more models available in the summer.

Service Providers and AI

In addition to its enterprise offerings, Cisco unveiled AI connectivity tools for service providers. Service providers will play a critical role in defining how, where and when data from AI applications move across networks.

Cisco said the data that AI applications create needs to be processed "closer to the edge and closer to users, requiring better access speeds, service performance resiliency and data security," citing its Cisco Agile Services Networking as a way to help service providers monetize the delivery of assured services and networking.

Key service provider networking announcements from Cisco included:

For over half a decade, Cisco has touted Silicon One as a differentiator. When it first rolled out, the processor targeted hyperscalers, a group of customers with which Cisco had little traction. Since then, Cisco has steadily grown that business and is now taking the high-performance networking lessons it learned to target its broad service provider base.

Availability of Service Provider Offerings

The first of Cisco's Silicon One-powered 8000 series will ship this spring, and other models will ship this summer. Cisco's upgraded coherent pluggable optics will also start shipping in the spring. The network automation and assurance features are already available.

Overall, Cisco unveiled a strong set of announcements. As AI redefines almost every part of IT, combined with the rise of GPUs and the evolution of servers, the industry is on the precipice of great changes. Networks must now be engineered to carry huge amounts of AI-generated data, even as they carry more sensitive information. Overlaying security across a data center network will no longer be enough in the AI era. Options like Cisco's new smart switches, blending both networking and security, will be a key requirement for scalable and secure AI.