Supervisor 2T or Not 2T, That is the Question…

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We have all seen the press releases from Cisco and are all excited that the Catalyst 6000 series (yes I know that we have now added 500 to this) may be around for a few years to come.  Who would have thought all those years ago when the Catalyst 6000 series was launched we would still be writing about new cards for it some twelve years later – will this thing ever die??? The Supervisor 2T, or Sup2T does seem to provide some reasonable performance increase to the aged 6500, but the question on people’s minds has to be “do I upgrade to a Sup2T?”

On the face of it, a move to the Sup2T seems like a good idea as it is just a quick Supervisor change isn’t it?  Well no, there are a few things that need to be taken into consideration when thinking about a change to the Sup2T.

Here is what to expect:
•    E-Series Only – Well, that older non E-Series Catalyst 6500 that has been running for years is not going to accept the new Sup2T, which means that a chassis change will be required (potentially with some linecards – see later).  However with Cisco TAC support being removed for the non E-Series chassis from 30th November 2012 the chassis change may be inevitable in most customers.

•    Enough Power? – Your existing Catalyst 6500 E series may not have enough power to support the Sup2T as there are some definite power requirements.  The 6, 9 and 13 slot chassis must use the now EoS 2500W power supply as a minimum, although for all new Sales we recommend the 3000W version.  The 6503-E chassis must be using the 1400W power supply and the 6504-E must have the 2700W supply.

•    Terabit Performance – At last Terabit performance comes to a Catalyst 6500 near you.  With forwarding capacity of two Terabits the Supervisor 2T really does promise great things, although this is dependent on the linecards you install in the chassis.  Cisco has resurrected the term ‘classic’ to refer to older linecards that will not benefit from the increased performance that the Sup2T offers.

•    Backward Compatible – Ahh! There is the sticking point with the Sup2T upgrade as it is no longer just a case of dropping new Sups into your Catalyst 6500 chassis.  You need to know what cards you have and decide if the upgrade is for you.

o    Certain WS-X61XX cards are compatible as are almost all WS-X67XX with a CFC (Central Forwarding Card) installed – the WS-X6708-10GE-3C/3CXL is not compatible.

o    There is no support for any WS-X62XX, WS-X63XX, WS-X64XX or WS-X65XX series linecards.

o    If you have any WS-X67XX linecards with Distributed Forwarding Cards (DFC) these will not be compatible until the DFC cards are changed for the new DFC4 range in either XL or CXL flavours.

There is a new range of WS-X68XX and WS-X69XX series of linecards that will make use of the new performance that the Sup2T offers, but these will be a new purchase with no trade-in program offered by Cisco.  However, with a wide range of buy-back schemes offered by Hardware.com I am sure your account manger can help soften that particular blow.

So, on the face of it, a move to the Sup2T could be expensive as new chassis, power supplies, linecards and/or DFC cards may be required.  This means a great deal of both technical and budgetary planning is required as the upgrade will not be a case of a couple of takeaway pizzas and a quick Supervisor swap one evening.

The question on whether or not to upgrade your existing Catalyst 6500 series switches with the Sup2T is a difficult one to answer and it really depends on what you are looking for from the upgrade. If you really have to extend the life of your existing 6500-E series chassis and do not require a huge port density of 10Gbps ports, the Sup2T could be the way to go after careful consideration of additional costs. If you are looking for a high 10Gbps port density then the Nexus 7009 seems the ideal way to go given that it has now established itself in the marketplace.

Why buy Refurbished Cisco hardware?

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Ever wondered what the benefits of buying used Cisco equipment are? Did you know you could save up to 90% of  the list price? Or that you can get a same as new warranty on all refurbished network hardware?

Find out all the benefits of buying Refurbished hardware in this short video by Charlie Bellord, the managing director at Hardware.com

To find out even more visit Hardware.com and take a look at our refurbished network hardware, or you can view all of Hardware.com’ s  products right here .

Sean Graham

Hardware.com

Leadership choices at Cisco

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Being surrounded by yes men or women is not how a leader should work, especially as these high-level managers probably have huge egos.

Anecdotally this was the case at Cisco.

John Chambers, the beleagured Cisco Chairman and CEO, has now ensured that his senior leadership team is free to discuss any decision before it is made. However, once the decision has been finalised then all of them have to back the decision fully.

Often what happens is that in a meeting a senior executive agrees to a decision and then undermines the plan outside the meeting.

The new Cisco sounds very democratic, but the alternative of a dictatorial style means that if a decision is not fully accepted by senior managers then plans will be doomed.

Cisco has also implemented greater personnel alignment, i.e. the right people working together, so that there is a positive effect on all the workforce. There is little point in having a manager who does not really understand what his team do or is trying to achieve.

Is your company leadership capable of making good choices?

After all; success begins with the employees.

Mark Cadbury, Marketing Director

Web domain expansion

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From January 2012 companies will be able to utilise their website domain name as a marketing tool after new suffixes have been approved by the Internet regulator ICANN.

Companies will be able to apply for any domain name in any language for a fee of £115,000.

At the moment there are 22 Internet domain name suffixes; including .com, .co.uk, .org, .net.

With this announcement companies can select their preference, potentially any word in any language, including .cisco, .apple, .coke, .hp.

This will appeal to not only companies but also regions, cities and destinations.

These generic top-level domain names will change the way people find information on the Internet and how businesses plan and structure their online presence.

The Internet will dramatically change as a result; ensuring an opportunity for innovation and creativity.

Mark Cadbury, Marketing Director

Big things are happening

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In 2010 humans created more data than we have ever created.

Over the last 15 years network speeds have increased by 18 million times.

Information is moving to the cloud – the approach is about solving information system needs; pooling of shared resource that is paid for per use. Ultimately delivering economies of scale that create cost and efficiency advantages.

8 out of 10 managers plan to use cloud computing within the next few years.

This all means that information can be accessed anytime, anywhere; with 60% of employees believing that they don’t need to be in the office to be productive.

This creates an entirely different way of collaborating and the ability to meaningfully interact.

By 2015 companies will generate 50% of their web sales via their social presence and mobile applications.

It is going to be an exponential shift in the way business is done.

Mark Cadbury, Marketing Director

The fundamentals remain

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Although the digital world has taken over all elements of communication, the fundamentals remain in place.

The fundamentals of a business and therefore marketing strategy is based on delivering a different proposition from your competitors, adding value, focusing on who you are, what you do and why it matters.

Getting that message right is the foundation for all activity whether that is website content, email and digital and social marketing.

This is also relevant to the IT department – it is important that the business strategy is incorporated into your plans and there are not a series of unconnected IT projects.

Understanding, communicating and delivering on who you are, what you do and why it matters both internally and externally to customers is fundamental to your IT strategy.

When you evaluate what it is that your business is about and the compelling reasoning then you can effectively prioritise your IT projects.

Marketing and IT are really not that dissimilar!

Mark Cadbury, Marketing Director

Innovation for success

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There are not many people who are so closely associated with innovation and success as Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple.

He built a company that reinvented not only personal computing but also music, mobile telecommunications and entertainment.

Steve Jobs built the Apple brand and his personal brand on a number of principles that are responsible for his success, and they can be applied to reinvent you, your company, your products or services.

These are Steve Jobs’s drivers:

  • Be passionate and do what you love, follow your heart and intuition and this will lead to perseverance and the will to succeed. Passions are the hopes, dreams and possibilities that consume your thoughts.
  • Share an inspiring vision – be bold, specific, concise and ensure it is consistently communicated. “Passion fuels the rocket, vision points the rocket to its ultimate destination”.
  • Innovation requires creativity, and that requires you to think differently by seeking out diverse experiences. Look outside your industry for inspiration.
  • Sell dreams, not products. Nobody cares about your company or product. They care about themsleves, their dreams and goals. Help them achieve their aspirations and you’ll win them over.
  • Simplicity and clarity. Eliminate anything that clutters the user experience whether in product design, website navigation, network infrastructure or applications.
  • Enrich people’s lives in the workplace or otherwise. Creating solutions about what they can do and not just moving product – will see sales soar.
  • Tell a compelling story; inform, educate and entertain. Often you are judged on your ability to communicate what you do and get people excited about it.

Mark Cadbury, Marketing Director

Search Engines and Business

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Google remains the dominant search engine by a very long way, accounting for 80% plus searches in Europe and North America, however second place has now been taken by YouTube’s search engine, overtaking Yahoo! and Bing.

The increasing popularity of video has become such a phenomenon  that Netflix’s video streaming service consumes over 20% of the Internet bandwidth in the USA between the peak times of 8pm to 10pm.

For the business world producing videos to communicate processes, relationships, brand personality and inspiring participation has become a real engagement tool.

Hardware.com is actively engaging in video and our YouTube channel is located here.

The US team has also produced a video to engage with and inform our customers – have a look.

Mark Cadbury, Marketing Director

IT will change the world

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Unlimited computer, storage and networking speeds are predicted in 25 years time.

Research and development are continuing apace, with innovations in IT developing exponentially.

The applications that will be possible will change the way we think and the way we act.

These changes will revolutionise industry, healthcare, energy, entertainment, urban planning and almost every aspect of our lives.

Here are some of the innovations that leading researchers are predicting about the influence of IT in 2036:

  • Optical processors replace microelectronics and quantum computers will mean computers will use less power and be 1000s of times faster, Smartphones will be as powerful as today’s supercomputers.
  • Terabit networks will be available in the home, with wireless networks at 10 gigabit speeds; smart networks will use the best network connection for your exact needs from Wi-Fi, LANs and WANs.
  • Planetary computers with a programmable network, from routers to software in the cloud, will be able to divide up resources to create real-time predictions, such as where and where a tornado will hit within minutes of it happening.
  • IPv6 will enable global availability with little difference in speed or quality of Internet access. Each person may have their own IPv6 address.
  • Cheap storage; a few terabytes of storage will be enough to store every minute of our lives on a handheld device.
  • Everything will be digitised, connected and available on the Internet (‘The Internet of Things’) and everything will be so personalised that we will only see what we want; providing the right information, at the right time and in the right context –hyperpersonalisation.
  • Cameras will be everywhere, robots will outnumber humans, assets will be virtual, augmented reality and 3D telepresence will be the norm.
  • Computers will become more human, you will only have to talk to them to get the answers you need. They will not only solve problems but also start to prevent them.

Is this the ‘Brave New World’ that has been foretold, will Internet security still be a problem, will your job be outsourced to a computer, will an Internet disaster occur?

The answer is probably yes to all of those questions.

Only the agile and creative will survive.

Mark Cadbury, Marketing Director

Digital business/customer relationship

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The Internet has evolved over 30 years, now with a billion global users.

These networked customers demonstrate five core behaviours, each of which can form the basis of a customer network strategy.

The five strategies are:

  1. Access. Users want it all, want it now and want it to be faster, easier and everywhere and always on.
  2. Engage. In the era of huge amounts of information there is a need to become a source of valued content.
  3. Customise. Customers want the most relevant information that engages and adds a personalised value to the relationship.
  4. Connect. Sharing ideas and opinions is how customers react digitally with each other, and businesses need to become part of those ‘conversations’.
  5. Collaborate. Invitation for customers to collaborate on collective projects through open platforms.

Whatever your objectives, these five strategies can help your business – the network is your customer.

Mark Cadbury, Marketing Director

Cyber Security and the Royal Wedding

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Well, the day is finally arriving for Kate Middleton and Prince William. The media frenzy is ready to go into action, but also, so are the cyber criminals.

With emails flying around promising sneak previews of Kate’s dress and William’s stag party, you can guarantee that spam is high on the agenda; with phishing scams, malicious software and websites that are malware infested.

Apparently, 22 of the top 100 Google searches for ‘royal wedding gown’ were dodgy links.

So, ensure that your security is tight, and if people are accessing the royal wedding from a PC, that they have the right security in place whether at work or at home.

YouTube will be streaming the event live, twitter will be updated on a constant basis as well as Facebook.

Mark Cadbury, Marketing Director

Science fiction and IT

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The science fiction genre is a favourite of almost all who work in IT.

Sci-fi is about the impact of imagined innovations in science and technology that are real possibilities – futuristic ideas.

When looking after networks and managing pieces of network hardware that make businesses run it puts the IT Manager/Network Manager in a place where there are an infinite number of possibilities.

Here are a dozen rather random but interesting sci-fi ideas/phrases from literature:

  1. Absolute black – so dark you cannot see it.
  2. Architectural coral – structures grown to a specific shape using living coral-like organisms.
  3. Bedog – a living creature designed to be a bed.
  4. Blacknet – an antisocial networking site.
  5. Cephalic sniffer – device that locates someone using their brain patterns.
  6. Cortical stack – implanted hardware that backs-up a copy of your mental self.
  7. Dustmice – tiny robot detectives that look for tiny clues at a crime scene.
  8. Filtered reality – Internet results but you only see what you want to see.
  9. Moddy – a plug-in personality in the brain.
  10. Odalarm – an alarm clock that wakes you with a selected smell.
  11. ParanoidLinux – an operating system that deliberately obscures the user’s activities.
  12. Websight – visualising the Internet in your brain.

Happy Easter.

Mark Cadbury, Marketing Director

The world’s most valuable brands

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Google has become the most valuable brand in the world. The brand value is estimated based on strength, risk, future potential and current financial position.

Google, having just announced a 27% increase in quarterly revenues of ~£5 billion, hits the top spot with a brand valuation at £27 billion.

Other highlights include Microsoft being edged out to number two, Coca-Cola dropping out of the top ten for the first time, Facebook entering the fray at 283rd place and BP falling 53 places.

Five of the top ten are technology-related companies, reflecting the commercial importance of embracing new technological innovation being at the heart of customers’ brand experiences. HP comes in at 13th, while Cisco is 71st.

The only UK company that appears in the top ten is Vodafone, at 5th place – the highest ranking telecommunications company.

Mark Cadbury, Marketing Director

IT Predictions for 2015

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According to the research company Gartner there will be some radical changes over the next four years in the world of Information Technology.

Here are some of the predictions that may make you re-think your long-term IT plans:

  • Companies will generate 50% of web sales via their social presence and mobile applications.
  • Between 80% and 90% of organisations will support corporate applications on personal devices, including tablets.
  • 80% of enterprises using external cloud services will demand independent certification that providers can restore operations and data, while 20% of non-IT Global 500 companies will be cloud providers.
  • Tools and automation will eliminate 25% of the labour hours associated with IT services.
  • A G20 nation’s critical infrastructure will be disrupted and damaged by online sabotage.

Mark Cadbury, Marketing Director

Peering behind the wizard’s curtain

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Google offices in Dublin

Google offices in Dublin

Being good Google customers and contributing towards the $30 Billion that Google earned from Pay-per-click advertising in 2010, Mark and I got an opportunity to meet with our account managers at Google’s EMEA headquarters in Dublin on Monday.

A very impressive tour it was too.  Against a backdrop of recession, massive debt and austerity that the Irish population now face,  Google employees seem to be working in a bubble, insulated from these general anxieties.

It is Google’s stated policy that all employees from Eric Schmidt downwards have access to the the same benefits at work: free buffet lunches, exercise equipment, massage chairs, Google-branded pool and bar football tables.  There is even a recording studio for general employee use!

There are currently over 2,000 employees on the Google ‘campus’ in Dublin, with a plan to more than double that number with the building of a new dedicated office block.  Our hosts half-joked with us about using Segways and building mini monorails between offices to get around the site.  It seemed plausible enough to us though.

Of course the expansion of Google, now ranked as the world’s most valuable brand, is most evident online but it was interesting to see some tangible, real world, example of the rise of this corporate giant.