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Cisco Developing Standalone Networking OS, Report Says (crn.com)
Cisco has built a new network operating system that will allow users to run its most sophisticated networking features on older and lower-cost Cisco routers and switches, according to a report. From a report: The move to potentially disrupt its networking hardware business was first reported by The Information, which said that Cisco, for now, is not looking to have its network operating system available for non-Cisco switches. Customers who want to run the new operating system, known as Lindt, will be able to move away from switches based on proprietary high-performance Cisco chips to Cisco hardware that works with lower-cost chips, according to the report.
Translation:
The hardware business is going stale. Lets add the same feature in software, where we can nickel and dime people for the same features,and tightly control access.
Packet inspection license
Packet routing license
Packet switching license
UDP packet license
TCP packet license
NSA inspection fee....
That'll be $5,000 per year, please for your 5-port switch. That includes your per port license fee for using IP networking, license fee per port for gigabit Ethernet, license fee for linking one port to another switch, license fee for admin access, license fee for installing the unit during a full moon...
"Cisco has built a new network operating system that will allow spy agencies to run their most recent spyware on older and lower-cost Cisco routers and switches"
ftfy
It's written in assembly and is so compact that it fits on a floppy disk. It's called Lindt now but I think they should stuck with the original name, the Disk Operating System. ;)
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
"No ever got fired for buying Cisco."
They can keep it. Our company just dumped all of our Cisco equipment because it was buggy and unreliable. I don't understand how these guys are still in business.
Granted, Cisco has had their share of problems. The most recent one being that certain equipment models over a span of a few years were prone to RAM failure. If you have those models in your environment and they are failing, then yes, it would appear to you that their equipment is buggy. However, I've had experience in large environments with a lot of different Cisco equipment and we rarely run into premature hardware failures, for the most part they just run.
Typically, other than the RAM problem mentioned earlier, network issues are caused by poor network design, configuration, poor power/cooling, and/or users doing stupid things. Very rarely is it the hardware.
I'm willing to bet that Cisco was dropped because it was too expensive rather than any issues with the hardware...
This is only a surprise outside of large enterprises.
Open Flow (SDN) is threatening them at the high end, and there are multiple competitors at the low/mid market---including Dell, who bought Force10 and is pushing their network and storage products very seriously.
Dell now owns VMware, EMC, Compellent, and Force10. They only need power delivery and UPS to offer a complete datacenter.
Cisco cannot justify insane pricing in the face of so many capable competitors. Especially when their attempts to expand into cloud services failed so miserably. Their hardware offerings outside of network gear are almost laughable.
Cisco can probably survive another 10-20 years if they compete well with their gear. The gear has always been solid, and the problem has always been a combination of lock-in and price. Competing on price will keep them a while, especially with their track record, but they will need more than competitive network gear to survive long-term.
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According to the latest ruleset, this post should be modded as Vorpal Flamebait +5.