Shrink Your IT Footprint with Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and Network Compute Engines

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1 Solution Overview Shrink Your IT Footprint with Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and Network Compute Engines BENEFITS Help ensure application availability by hosting network services and mission-critical applications locally. Control costs by reducing power and cabling requirements and simplifying system maintenance. Consolidate service contracts for additional savings. Free up space. Combine networking, compute, storage, and applications all in one box. Flexibly address changing business needs with a consolidated infrastructure that makes it easy to add new services. Improve security. With no external network cables or peripherals required, you can easily secure the UCS E- Series and NCE blades without compromising manageability. Give your branch offices quick access to the applications and data they need - without gobbling up lots of space and money. How? By consolidating your equipment into one efficient box. Branch offices often don t have the space or IT resources to take care of all their computing needs on site. But moving everything to the cloud or data center isn t always the answer. Branch offices need quick access to business-critical applications and data. They can t afford to be slowed down by the network latency and bandwidth constraints of a centralized solution. Cisco Unified Computing System E-Series Servers and Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engines (NCEs) provide a compact, simple solution. They are compute blades that combine with your Cisco branch router and other blades to integrate all your branch infrastructure - routing, switching, security, and compute - into a 1- to 3-rack-unit (RU) box. This convenient, all-in-one platform for hosting and virtualizing applications requires fewer IT resources to maintain; takes up little space; and lowers capital, operational, support, and power costs. The Advantages and Limits of Centralization There are compelling benefits to consolidating apps and services in the data center or cloud and delivering them to users over the WAN or the Internet. Centralization allows very consistent security policy enforcement, for example. And it can improve the efficiencies of IT equipment and personnel Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 1 of 6

2 The consolidation of resources, however, has its limits when you are running a wide distribution of small sites. Bandwidth constraints and high latency (caused by physical distance between user and a central data center or cloud) can slow application performance and hamper access to resources in branch offices. For instance, if a retail store wants to provide a digital catalog, WAN latency can make it an unacceptable experience for customers. Or a medical office that needs quick access to large digital images might find that retrieving them through a WAN takes too long or hogs bandwidth at the expense of other important apps. A branch might also need the same types of network services required in larger locations, such as Cisco Wide Area Application Service (WAAS) or Microsoft Active Directory (AD), making it impractical to consolidate all resources centrally. Then, too, space constraints and limited local IT resources make it challenging for small offices to host applications locally. However, the ISR 4000 Series and Cisco Integrated Services Router G2 platforms provide the ability to run routing, switching, security, wireless LAN, and, most recently, powerful server capabilities in a 1- to 3-rack unit (RU) footprint. That footprint easily fits in the smallest store, bank branch, and satellite office and can be remotely managed, solving the problem. Key Features and Components The Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and NCEs are router blade versions of Cisco s UCS data center server technology that allow you to quickly host applications locally and manage them remotely. Simply house the UCS E- Series Servers and NCEs in your existing Cisco 4000 Series ISR or Cisco ISR G2 networking platform to host apps; there s no need for a separate tower or rack server taking up space. Virtualization-ready. The x86 64-bit E-Series server blades are virtualization ready and can host both essential infrastructure services and mission-critical business applications. Simple, secure management. Built-in lights-out server management through the Cisco Integrated Management Controller (IMC) runs on the same dedicated baseboard management controller hardware found in all Cisco UCS products. This feature provides standalone management consistency with Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers. This allows IT to monitor and manage configuration either locally or remotely. And because the blades require no external network cables or physical keyboard, video, or mouse (KVM), they can be easily secured without compromising manageability. Choosing Between a Server and an NCE Whether you need a UCS E-Series Server or NCE will depend on the application needs of your branch. E-Series Servers Applications and Components. If you re looking to consolidate four or more services on a single platform - say, WAN optimization, a point-of-sale system, customer tracking information, digital catalog, and video surveillance - you would need the storage and DRAM capacity of a UCS E-Series Server. These data center-class servers are available in single-wide and double-wide modules. Both are high-density, single-socket blade servers that balance simplicity, performance, and application density. The single-wide versions include a four-core Intel Xeon processor E3-1105Cv2 and fit into a single service-module slot in the Cisco ISR G2 or Cisco 4000 Series ISR platforms. The double-wide modules occupy two service-module slots side-by-side and can include a four-, six-, or eight-core Intel Xeon Processor E5-2400v2 with more RAM and storage capacity than the single-wide module Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 2 of 6

3 Both modules are excellent platforms for introducing virtualization into branch offices and supporting missioncritical business applications (see Figures 1 and 2). Figure 1. Cisco UCS E-Series Single Wide Blade Figure 2. Cisco USC E-Series Double Wide Blade NCE Applications: The UCS E-Series NCEs offer computing optimized for both power and price and are appropriate for running network services and lightweight applications. They are suited to offices that need to run just one or two applications; for instance, WAN optimization and a point-of-sale application. They come in three form factors: a single-wide service module, a double-wide enhanced high-speed WAN interface card (DW-EHWIC), and a network interface module (NIM). The single-wide service modules fit into Cisco ISR G2 and 4000 Series ISR networking platforms. They contain a high-performance, power-efficient Intel Pentium processor (see Figure 3) Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 3 of 6

4 Figure 3. Cisco UCS E-Network Compute Engine The double-wide EHWICs fit in the Cisco ISR G2 networking platforms only. They run the Intel Atom Processor C2358 and come in multiple versions with varied DRAM and hard-disk capacities. The NIMs fit in the Cisco 4000 Series ISR networking platform only. They run the Intel Atom processor C2518 and are also available in versions with a variety of DRAM and hard-disk capacities. Savings on Space, Energy, Service Contract Costs The space savings with E-Series servers and NCEs can be substantial. For instance, if a branch office needs a router, a switch, and a couple of tower servers to run different applications, those requirements could eat up 5 to 10 RUs of space. The E-Series can bring that down to just 2 to 3 RUs. And the servers and NCEs conserve energy. The UCS E-Series Servers, for example, consume 60 to 160 watts of power, compared with a typical 450-watt consumption with traditional tower servers. The NCEs in the EHWIC and NIM form factors consume about 30 watts of power. In addition, the E-Series servers and NCEs are covered by the same Cisco SMARTnet support contract that covers the router. One contract covers all functions and blades, so you don t have to invest in additional support contracts when adding more capabilities to the router platform. Retailer Lowers Costs with Store in a Box IT Challenge: Columbia Sportswear Company, a retailer based in Portland, Oregon, wanted to minimize the space, power, and cooling requirements for its stores IT infrastructure. At the same time, it wanted to simplify management. And it was critical that the company prevent network outages from interrupting sales. results have been as follows: Solution: The retailer built a store-in-a-box solution for 23 branches, using a Cisco Integrated Services Router (ISR) 3945 containing a Cisco UCS E-Series Server UCS-E140S and 48-port switch. The company also provided voice, voic , and instant messaging to more than two dozen stores from a centralized Cisco Unified Communications Manager. This eliminated the need for an on-premises voice system in those stores. Specifically, the business Reduced store IT infrastructure from eight to four rack units, saving $20,000 annually on power Provided a backup connection for the point-of-sale (POS) applications and voice connections Eliminated the cost of sending technicians to stores to install or update servers. Now the IT team just ships the router to the store, and any employee can connect it in minutes 2015 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 4 of 6

5 Platform Support and Compatibility Cisco UCS E-Series Servers are designed to support multiple bare-metal operating systems and hypervisors. The NCEs support a more limited set of bare-metal operating systems and hypervisors (see Table 1). Table 1. Operating Systems and Hypervisors Supported by Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and NCEs UCS-E Series Servers Operating Systems UCS-E Series Servers Hypervisors Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Hyper-V 2008 R2, 2012 and 2012 R2 Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard 64-bit VMware vsphere 5.0, Update 1, and Releases 5.1, 5.5 and 6.0 Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise 64-bit Citrix XenServer Release 6.0 Windows Server 2012 Standard 64-bit Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard 64-bit Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Release 6.2 and later SuSE Linux 11, Service Pack 2 and later Oracle Enterprise Linux 6.0, Update 2 and later UCS-E Series NCEs Operating Systems UCS-E Series NCEs Hypervisors Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard 64-bit Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2 Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Release 6.5 and later VMware vsphere 5.5 Use Cases The compute blades for Cisco ISR routers can be used for a variety of applications across industries (Table 2). Table 2. Retail Finance Healthcare Any Applications by Industry Point-of-sale application Video surveillance Digital catalogs Wi-Fi access for customers Home-grown banking or teller applications Bank teller in-office control points (IOCPs) Digital image storage Patient data storage Billing applications Core Microsoft Windows services, such as Microsoft Active Directory Domain Services and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server services Network applications, such as Cisco Virtual Wide Area Application Services and Cisco Virtual Wireless LAN Controller Client-management services, such as configuration and operations management, monitoring services, and backup and recovery services Why Cisco? Cisco is the only company providing a fully converged solution for the branch office. We have the depth and breadth of expertise to help you create an optimized branch-office experience that can help your small locations operate more efficiently with a smaller footprint. Services The UCS E-Series lets you consolidate of a number of network services. Among them: Cisco WAN optimization, Firepower on Cisco 4000 Series ISR and ISR G2, wireless LAN controllers, Cisco Unity Connection, Cisco Call Manager, Cisco Web Security Appliance, Cisco Video Surveillance, Cisco Enterprise Content Delivery System, and others Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 5 of 6

6 Cisco Capital Financing to Help You Achieve Your Objectives Cisco Capital can help you acquire the technology you need to achieve your objectives and stay competitive. We can help you reduce CapEx. Accelerate your growth. Optimize your investment dollars and ROI. Cisco Capital financing gives you flexibility in acquiring hardware, software, services, and complementary third-party equipment. And there s just one predictable payment. Cisco Capital is available in more than 100 countries. Learn more. Next Steps For more information about UCS E-Series servers and engines, please visit Printed in USA C / Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 6 of 6