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

[Ted Mittelstaedt]

So, we can run Linux on the Cisco routers,

And we can run IOS on a Linux system
(http://dynagen.org/)

And, for an encore, we can proceed to prove
that white is black and get ourselves killed
at the next Zebra crossing.

There's some things that are just too stupid
to contemplate doing.

Ted

> -----Original Message-----
> From: cisco-nsp-bounces at puck.nether.net
> [mailto:cisco-nsp-bounces at puck.nether.net]On Behalf Of Skeeve Stevens
> Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2008 3:15 PM
> To: cisco-nsp at puck.nether.net
> Cc: aussie-isp at taz.net.au
> Subject: [c-nsp] News Item: Cisco Turns Routers Into Linux
> ApplicationServers
>
>
> I haven't seen anything here about this, so ..
>
> http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3740106/Cisco+Tur
> ns+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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