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Keeping with its Data Center 3.0 theme, Cisco Systems unveiled a new data center switching infrastructure to help the network transition to become more services-centric.

The Nexus 7000 Series takes queues from the various demands on next-generation data centers, introducing virtualization and keeping an eye toward going green. The switching platform combines Ethernet, IP and storage across one unified network fabric.

The Nexus series uses the Cisco Nexus Operating System (NX-OS) to help IT managers better consolidate the disparate software systems running their networks. The platform can currently transfer 15 terabits per second, which means users could download the entire Netflix library in roughly one minute, with a scalable architecture that could allow even greater delivery rates.

The platform uses the recently deployed Cisco Trusted Security architecture, which allows network managers to segment traffic through virtualized environments.

"With its Data Center 3.0 vision, Cisco is transforming the data center into a virtualized environment that revolutionizes how organizations adopt new IT strategies and respond quickly to changing business needs," said Jayshree Ullal, senior vice president of Cisco's Data Center, Switching and Services Group.

Nexus 7000 also cuts power consumption in the data center by around 8 percent, fueling the shift to green IT, an area that has become a concern for companies and resellers alike. That power savings could ultimately save USD 20 million over the life of the data center.

The architecture is a unified fabric which combines Ethernet and storage capabilities in one platform, designed to give all servers access to all network and storage resources, opening the doors for data center consolidation and virtualization.

In the future the fabric will include unified I/O interfaces and Fibre Channel over Ethernet. Creating data centers based on a unified fabric eliminates the need for parallel storage and computational networks, reducing the overall number of server interfaces and significantly reducing the cabling and switching infrastructure required. A unified fabric also lets users move to higher-density server form factors.

In addition, Cisco has chosen the Nexus 7000 to be the first device within its portfolio to fully support the new TrustSec security initiative. With TrustSec a network can manage policy and identity across both applications and the network itself.

In terms of network access control (NAC), the Nexus 7000 will support NAC on day one. The switching platform has the largest control plane in the industry and can scale to handle the demand of NAC.

With the Nexus 7000, Cisco is not slamming the door shut on its industry-dominating Catalyst switch portfolio. Rather, the Catalyst is a 1 GbE optimized switching platform that can scale to 10 GbE, whereas the Nexus 7000 is a 10 GbE optimized switching platform that can scale to 40 GbE and 100 GbE when available, noted Bill Lulofs, a data center marketing manager at Cisco.

Cisco is pricing that Nexus 7000 series at around USD 75,000 to start with general availability expected later this year.