Cisco unveils rackmount servers to complete datacenter lineup

As part of its Unified Computing System (UCS) strategy, to enter the server market, Cisco will be offering the "C Series" of 1U and 2U servers that will be built on the Intel Xeon 5500 processor. Cisco has noted the amount of customer interest in the memory expansion capabilities inherent to the earlier "B Series" Blade servers; as such, Cisco has incorporated this "extended memory" capability into at least one of its new range of rack mount servers.

The extended memory technology, which will be incorporated in the Cisco UCS C 250 M1 rack mount server, quadruples the amount of memory modules that the Xeon 5500 processor is able to access. A custom Application Specific Integration Circuit (ASIC) chip makes it possible to increase the maximum amount of memory to a staggering 384GB.

The interest for more memory is, no doubt, generated by organizations looking to cram even more virtual machines into a fewer number of hardware servers. To this end, Cisco is addressing this need by offering customers the option of less expensive memory configurations. Other models, such as the Cisco UCS C 210 M1, allow up to 16 local hard disks to be packed into a single 2RU server chassis. Meanwhile, the UCS C200 M1 is a more standard, two-socket 1RU rack mount server.

For more on this story:
- check out this article at Data Center Knowledge
- check out this article at SearchDatacenter

Related Articles:
Cisco launches into the server market
Cisco plans big foray into server market
Google: We will complete stalled data centers
Data centers: Growth or stagnation