I wrote this in response to Omar Sultan at Cisco on ‘Why you want this switch ?
I was looking the NX-OS feature navigator today and NX-OS looks (currently) like a substantially feature-free platform – check out the NX-OS Feature Navigator and consider what is not listed here.
A couple of other things that strike me as odd:
- NX-OS has a primary marketing message that is based on technologies that do not yet exist (FCoE) or technology that only a few companies care much about (10GB Ethernet), or intangible elements like their new switching fabric
- Waxing lyrically about your ‘lights out sub-system’ smacks of desperation because there are not any other features to talk about.
- NX-OS remains an unknown.
- I still believe that NX-OS has been released to put a footprint in the space and slow down venture capital investments. You never know, they might have produced a product that could eat Cisco’s lunch.
Omar and Doug have a role in promoting the Nexus 7000. Lets make sure that we don’t go overboard with the markitecture. I would appreciate if they could quiet down the marketing so I can get some work done here. If another person comes up to me and asks whether I have seen the Nexus 7000 I am going to hit them with RITA.
As a long time veteran of many product releases, market announcements, platform announcements I remain deeply cynical. In some movie, a pretending person once said, “show me the money”. That’s what I want.
Postscript
I wrote more about the Nexus 7000 in a previous posting considering whether it is suitable for use today or tomorrow.
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About Greg Ferro
I recently attended a “Technology Update” hosted by {those who offer the Nexus}. I sat in on a Nexus session and the presenter basically pitched it as something none of us were likely to care about today but was nevertheless something to be aware of. I guess I have to agree with him. None of my clients require that kind of density and even fewer could afford it. Add to that the fact that this is a first-generation offering likely to disappoint on several levels.
Working on the high-horsepower stuff is fun but I’m not sure how I feel about a single piece of networking gear whose value can exceed that of my own home…
I’ve positioned the Nexus 7K several times for customers who want Core and Distribution separation, but can’t afford the multiple devices to do so. The virtualization capabilities of the Nexus 7K are very useful in situations like that.
I’ll give you the fact that it has a ton of marketing around it, and that the marketing is out of control.