[c-nsp] News Item: Cisco Turns Routers Into Linux Application Servers

[Wink]

http://opensourcejuicer.blogspot.com/2008/04/dumb-and-dumber.html



Skeeve Stevens wrote:
> I haven't seen anything here about this, so ..
>
> http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3740106/Cisco+Turns+Routers
> +Into+Linux+Application+Servers.htm
>
> Cisco Turns Routers Into Linux Application Servers
> By Sean Michael Kerner
> April 10, 2008
>
> Networking gear and server equipment are two distinct types of hardware,
> right? Not anymore. 
>
> Networking goliath Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is now opening its Integrated
> Services Router (ISR) and Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS)
> platforms to become Linux-based application server platforms. The move could
> have wide-ranging implications, as Cisco's gear has millions of deployments
> that now can be leveraged to serve applications directly. 
>
> Inbar Lasser-Raab, Cisco’s senior director of network systems, told
> InternetNews.com that the company has been looking to open up the ISR to
> third-party applications for a long time. 
>
> "We really think that we're changing the way business models will be built
> in the branch," she said. Lasser-Raab isn't being overly dramatic, either.
> Cisco to date has sold more than 4 million ISRs and as such has a large
> installed base to target with the new application initiative. 
>
> Officially called the Cisco Application eXtension Platform (AXP), the new
> initiative includes both hardware and software for deploying applications on
> Cisco's routers. The AXP is available as both a module that can plug into
> modular Cisco ISRs as well as a daughterboard that can plug into a Cisco ISR
> motherboard. 
>
> On the software side, the core operating system of the AXP is Linux. Joel
> Conover, manager of network systems at Cisco, explained that that the
> version of Linux used is one that Cisco refers to it as Cisco Hardened
> Linux. 
>
> Cisco is no stranger to Linux, though the AXP does represent a shift. "This
> is not the first time we have had a Linux platform, " Lasser-Raab commented.
> "Some of the network modules with various services are also Linux-based. So
> we're actually using the same Linux to deploy our own services onto modules.
> Now we're just making it available to our customers and partners." 
>
> Though the AXP is Linux-based, Conover noted that the actual development
> environment for applications could be anything an ISV wants. He explained
> that the SDK and APIs provide a standard set of libraries for C, Python and
> Java. 
>
> Before an application can actually be deployed onto an AXP, a certification
> process must first be completed. Part of the process includes a license
> agreement from Cisco as well as a support contract. The certification also
> provides a mechanism to ensure that only certified applications are deployed
> on the AXP. 
>
> Lasser-Raab noted that routers are mission-critical components, and
> customers likely don't want any engineer to be able to deploy whatever they
> want without first ensuring it's certified. 
>
> >From a pure open source perspective, Cisco is also making sure it plays by
> the rules. 
>
> "From a GPL perspective, we've taken all the things that are GPL and
> reciprocated the code back to the community," Conover said. "Obviously if a
> developer built an application on top of a GPL platform, that doesn't imply
> that they have to GPL that code. " 
>
> The GPL is a reciprocal license that requires any modification made be
> contributed back to the community. 
>
> Overall, Cisco expects the AXP to reduce the hardware footprint at branch
> offices and provide deeper network integration that provides IT managers
> with more control over what they can monitor. 
>
> "The ISR started as a way to integrate services," Lasser-Raab explained.
> "This is taking it to whole new level in terms of flexibility." 
>
> The AXP also will take Cisco to a new level competitively, in the sense that
> it is now encroaching on territory traditionally held by server vendors. 
>
> "We really view this as helping customers to simplify their branch
> architectures," Lasser-Raab said. "It's not looking at being a full server
> replacement; it's more about efficiency and consolidation." 
>
>  
>
>
> --
> Skeeve Stevens, RHCE
> skeeve at skeeve.org / www.skeeve.org
> Cell +61 (0)414 753 383 / skype://skeeve
>
> eintellego - skeeve at eintellego.net - www.eintellego.net 
> --
> I'm a groove licked love child king of the verse 
> Si vis pacem, para bellum
>
>
>
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