Bringing together two of the most utilized
networking portfolios, Cisco Silicon One and NVIDIA Spectrum-X,
will offer enterprises unmatched flexibility and choice in AI data
center investments
News Summary:
- Today, Cisco and NVIDIA announced the intent to create a
cross-portfolio unified architecture to simplify building AI-ready
data center networks.
- NVIDIA will enable Cisco Silicon One coupled with NVIDIA
SuperNICs to become part of the NVIDIA Spectrum-X Ethernet
networking platform. Cisco would be the only partner silicon
included in NVIDIA Spectrum-X.
- Cisco will build systems combining NVIDIA Spectrum silicon with
Cisco operating system software, allowing customers to
simultaneously standardize Cisco networking and NVIDIA technology
in the data center.
- This proposed collaboration will open new market opportunities
for Cisco by unifying the architectural model between front-end and
back-end networks, making it easier to manage various enterprise
and cloud provider networks.
SAN
JOSE, Calif., Feb. 25,
2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) today
announced plans for an expanded partnership with NVIDIA to provide
AI technology solutions to enterprises. Enterprises recognize that
AI is essential to growth but remain early in their adoption as
they navigate the unique technical complexity and security demands
of operating AI-ready data centers. The expanded partnership aims
to give organizations flexibility and choice as they look to meet
the demand of AI workloads for high-performance, low-latency,
highly power-efficient connectivity within – and between – data
centers, clouds, and users.
"A robust and scalable AI ecosystem is key to driving the
transformative power of AI," said Hans Vestberg, Chairman and CEO
of Verizon. "This expanded partnership between Cisco and NVIDIA,
just like our Verizon AI Connect strategy and solutions, builds
towards accelerating and enabling resource-intensive AI workloads
at the Edge of the network."
The NVIDIA Spectrum-X Ethernet networking platform based on
Cisco and NVIDIA silicon will form the foundation for many
enterprise AI workloads. By enabling interoperability between both
companies' networking architectures, the two companies are
prioritizing customers' needs for simplified, full-stack solutions.
The goal of the expanded partnership is to allow customers to
optimize their AI infrastructure investments with a common
architecture, using their existing management tools and processes,
spanning front and back-end networks.
"Enterprises are under immense pressure to deploy AI quickly and
effectively, and many leaders struggle to justify the investment
while balancing the risks," said Chuck
Robbins, Chair and CEO, Cisco. "Together, Cisco and NVIDIA
are partnering to remove barriers for customers and ensure they can
optimize their infrastructure investments to unlock the power of
AI."
"Advancing at lightspeed, AI will revolutionize every industry,"
said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO, NVIDIA. "NVIDIA Spectrum-X is
Ethernet enhanced and supercharged for AI. Together with Cisco's
enterprise platforms and global reach, we can help companies
worldwide build state-of-the-art NVIDIA infrastructure as they race
to transform with AI."
By making it easier to integrate and standardize on both Cisco
and NVIDIA technology, customers will benefit from current and
future technology advancements in the NVIDIA Spectrum-X platform
such as adaptive routing, telemetry, congestion control and low
latency, as well as Cisco's broader networking, security, and
digital resilience portfolio, including the Splunk data platform.
As businesses develop AI capabilities and train models on their own
data, having a comprehensive security strategy becomes crucial.
"World Wide Technology's long-standing partnerships with Cisco
and NVIDIA has already resulted in cutting-edge AI solutions that
drive innovation and business transformation," said Jim Kavanaugh, Co-Founder and CEO, World Wide
Technology. "By leveraging the strengths of Cisco's deep expertise
in the data center and NVIDIA's advanced AI technologies, we are
poised to deliver unparalleled value to our customers and help them
navigate the complexities of AI adoption with confidence."
Cisco and NVIDIA: Accelerating AI workload adoption in the
enterprise
Together, the two companies are committed to
bringing new levels of innovation to accelerate the adoption of AI
within enterprises. Focusing on simplifying deployment and
operations, while improving workload performance and visibility,
the objective of this deeper partnership is to deliver the highest
performance Ethernet solutions available for AI workloads and
extend NVIDIA's Spectrum-X architecture to include Cisco Silicon
One, making Cisco the only partner silicon supported in Spectrum-X
Ethernet solutions. In addition, the expanded partnership will
help move enterprise data center Ethernet AI projects from
prototype to full deployment, which would otherwise be limited to
public cloud or SaaS services.
Today, Cisco and NVIDIA are planning to develop joint solutions
for customers.
- Cisco will develop data center switches with the NVIDIA
Spectrum Ethernet platform. The open ecosystem approach will
provide customers with more choices and flexibility. Organizations
can standardize on the NVIDIA Spectrum-X networking platform with
both Cisco and NVIDIA switch silicon-based architectures, bringing
the industry-leading technologies from both companies under a
single management fabric.
- Cisco will collaborate with NVIDIA to create and
validate NVIDIA Cloud Partner (NCP) and
Enterprise Reference Architectures based on NVIDIA
Spectrum-X with Cisco Silicon One, Hyperfabric, Nexus, UCS
Compute, Optics, and other Cisco technologies.
- Cisco and NVIDIA are committed to collaboration and joint
development, aiming to deliver the highest-performing Ethernet
solutions for customers. The companies plan for continued
collaboration to address significant challenges like congestion
management and load balancing so that customers can scale and
secure AI deployments.
For more information, read Cisco EVP and Chief Product Officer
Jeetu Patel's perspective on the
agreement.
AVAILABILITY
Cisco plans to enhance its Silicon
switches to be compatible with Spectrum-X and NVIDIA's reference
architectures. These updates will be available in the middle of
calendar year 2025, including existing and upcoming Cisco Nexus,
Cisco Nexus Hyperfabric, and Cisco UCS products. The timeline for
new Cisco Spectrum switches will be announced at a later date.
ABOUT CISCO
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide
technology leader that is revolutionizing the way organizations
connect and protect in the AI era. For more than 40 years, Cisco
has securely connected the world. With its industry leading
AI-powered solutions and services, Cisco enables its customers,
partners and communities to unlock innovation, enhance productivity
and strengthen digital resilience. With purpose at its core,
Cisco remains committed to creating a more connected and inclusive
future for all. Discover more on The Newsroom and follow us on X at
@Cisco.
Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks
of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A
listing of Cisco's trademarks can be found at
http://www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks
mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of
the word 'partner' does not imply a partnership relationship
between Cisco and any other company.
Products and features described in this release that are not
currently available remain in varying stages of development and
will be offered on a when-and-if-available basis. The delivery
timeline of any future products and features is subject to change
at the discretion of Cisco and its partners.
CONTACT: Will Stickney,
wstickne@cisco.com
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SOURCE Cisco Systems, Inc.
