Cisco Unveils New Computing Systems Powered by 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable Processor

January 11, 2023

Jan. 11, 2023 — Cisco and Intel have enjoyed a long history of co-innovation and collaboration spanning many major technology shifts including 5G, IoT, and data center transformation. In this last area, Cisco and Intel have worked together since 2009 to redefine the server computing category through groundbreaking capabilities in the Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS). In 2021, Cisco and Intel jointly delivered the UCS M6 servers in April followed quickly by the introduction of the highly modular and future-ready UCS X-Series in June.

Today, Cisco is resetting the bar again with the 7th generation of UCS C-Series and X-Series servers that will be powered by 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors. There are actually two elements of what Cisco and Intel are delivering. One, Cisco is providing its customers with greater flexibility and more performance for modern workloads with new C-Series and X-Series servers. Two, Cisco is delivering application acceleration without compromise by supporting the Intel Data Center GPU Flex Series in the UCS X-Series Fabric technology, enabling customers to support a wider range of rapidly evolving, increasingly compute-intensive workloads.

Addressing IT's Top-of-Mind Concerns

With this announcement, Cisco is directly addressing two primary concerns that virtually every enterprise IT organization is grappling with today. The first is the reality that enterprise workloads are becoming increasingly dynamic and is necessitating widescale modernization of IT infrastructure. Additionally, Cisco research revealed that more than half of the customers we surveyed are moving their workloads between on and off-prem environments on a weekly basis. This requires solutions that can transform both infrastructure and operations to securely support the demands of workloads such as artificial intelligence (e.g., machine learning), data analytics (e.g., big data), storage (e.g., SDS), and efficient computing (e.g., virtual desktop infrastructure).

The second concern is the increasing scrutiny of IT organizations are facing to be more sustainable in their operations through more energy-efficient infrastructure and advanced monitoring and management systems. In fact, Gartner listed sustainability as its top strategic technology trend for 2023 noting that companies must "invest more in innovative solutions that are designed to address ESG demand to meet sustainability goals."

UCS and Intersight Rise to the Challenge Again

This new class of next-generation UCS servers along with the simplified IT operations made possible by Cisco Intersight help customers solve both issues. Cisco is giving customers more options across the UCS portfolio with two-socket 1RU/2RU rack servers and two & four-socket X-Series modular compute nodes, all based on the new 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable CPUs.

Cisco is also taking advantage of the future-ready and modular architecture of the UCS X-Series by continuing to disaggregate technologies and eliminate historical forced upgrades/forklifts when adopting new technologies. The ability to support 2-socket and 4-socket, M6 and M7 generation compute nodes, and a variety of GPUs in PCIe nodes all in the same chassis is a proof point that the flexibility of the UCS X-Series modular design offers tremendous investment protection. This flexibility enables UCS to support advanced technologies such as DDR5, PCIe 5.0, Compute Express Link 1.1 (CXL), and now the Intel Data Center GPU Flex Series. Powered and managed by Intersight, the UCS X-Series can support modern workloads efficiently on a blade-server architecture that has historically been only practical on rack-based servers.

This combination of density, performance, modularity, and simplified manageability will deliver a number of compelling operational and sustainability benefits including:

Cisco would like to thank and congratulate its valued partners at Intel for their momentous launch of the new 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable Processors that are powering the latest UCS platforms. It's another great example of how these two companies are delivering breakthrough innovations and unprecedented value for customers everywhere.

Join the WEBINAR: Accelerate Modern Applications and Simplify Operations with UCS X-Series Innovations, January 17, 2023, 10:00 AM Pacific Time (San Francisco, GMT-08:00).

Source: Cisco