Cisco's Big Blade Server Bet

After months of rumors, Cisco officially entered the server business with a modular system it calls the "Unified Computing System." This blade server system goes one step beyond its predecessors by starting from a unified network foundation on 10 gigabit per second Ethernet (10 GbE) that delivers a true wire-once architecture. The incumbents in the server market quickly responded by denouncing and discounting this move. But, to quote Shakespeare's Hamlet, "the cat will mew but the dog will have his day." Forrester believes Cisco's move was inevitable. Virtualization is causing the convergence of server, storage, and network platforms. This is not driven solely by the quest for a greater share of the enterprise wallet. Virtualization and virtualized I/O in particular have given Cisco a legitimate reason to build integrated server and networking solutions.