with New Smart Switches, Embedding Services Directly into the Network
Cisco has introduced a family of data center Smart Switches, challenging traditional data center design by enabling services to be embedded directly into the switching layer. Utilizing programmable AMD Pensando™ data processing units (DPUs), the switch functions as a high-capacity, multifunctional service-hosting device, architecturally transforming data centers to simplify their design and make them more efficient. Cisco’s first combined offering, the Smart Switch with Cisco Hypershield, introduces a new approach to securing AI data centers by fusing security directly into the network fabric.
As AI workloads multiply, building and managing data centers has become much more complex. Data center operators require a simpler way to design, build, and deploy infrastructure to fully benefit from AI. AI applications must sit where they are needed, whether a massive large language model sitting in centralized hyperscale facilities or a network drone monitoring crop irrigation at the very edge of the network. This shift in where data is created, accessed, and stored requires a new type of simplified data center infrastructure–one that integrates compute, storage, networking, and security in new ways, and allows for automated and predictive operations via simplified management platforms.
“AI requires infrastructure with orders of magnitude more processing power, to train and deploy AI models that dwarf even the largest enterprise jobs of the past,” said Jeetu Patel, Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer, Cisco. “Simply upgrading data center infrastructure with higher ‘speeds and feeds’ switches does not address the requirements of modern data centers, which require acceleration of security and network services natively within the data center fabric.”
"Cisco's innovative approach to data center design, leveraging leadership AMD Pensando DPUs, marks a significant milestone in transforming enterprise infrastructure to meet the evolving security demands of AI deployments,” said Soni Jiandani, senior vice president and general manager, Networking Technology and Solutions Group, AMD. “Our collaboration with Cisco enables enterprises to achieve high-capacity throughput and impressive network security without compromising on workload performance on Cisco UCS servers or Hypershield enabled platforms. Together, we are paving the way for a new era of intelligent, adaptive, and secure data centers."
Cisco Nexus Smart Switches: a Game Changer
As AI drives rapid growth, organizations must manage significantly increased power, compute, and networking demands. In traditional data center architectures, when each new service required a specific device, growth led to complexity. It also required adding, changing, or upgrading the enforcement of security policies with each new service or workload. Cisco Nexus Smart Switches offer a simpler, more efficient and extensible architecture by embedding services directly into the data center fabric, rather than bolting them on top.
By combining Cisco data center networking, Silicon One, and AMD DPUs, customers can scale services and adapt quickly to evolving business needs, all without the need for any additional hardware. The switches feature two processing engines: a high-performance network processor for stable data transfer and a network services sidecar for agile security processing. Traffic is intelligently steered between the two engines for optimal performance.
Reimagining Data Center Security with Smart Switch and Hypershield
The first integrated service combines Cisco Nexus Smart Switches and Hypershield to form a new approach to data center security. It combines an advanced, AI-native, hardware-accelerated, distributed security architecture directly within the data center fabric to:
• Provide security that’s melted into the data center network. Hypershield embedded in the switching layer reduces the number of appliances and allows data center operators to create a ‘micro perimeter’ around each service that makes up a workload.
• Enable autonomous segmentation policies. Customers benefit from automatically updating security policies to the right enforcement points, ensuring consistent security with minimal manual effort.
• Keep security posture up to date without disruption. Organizations can minimize risks and drive policy lifecycle management at scale by using self-qualifying policy updates before deployment.
• Easily extend consistent policy enforcement across multiple domains. With the ability to manage policies consistently across a library of enforcement points in the cloud, on-prem, and on traditional next-gen firewalls, customers now have a single management system with Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall.
• Manage network and security workflows with persona-driven operations. The integrated solution supports common and separate workflows for NetOps, SecOps, or NetSecOps teams using a single solution to maintain connectivity and security.
Fusing security directly into the data center network changes the fundamentals of data center security. Combined with Cisco Firewall Threat Defense, new AI Defense capabilities, and Security Cloud Control, Cisco now offers the first Hybrid Mesh Firewall optimized to protect AI applications in the data center and public cloud.
