As a Cisco networking professional you probably thought you'd never see this happen but Cisco is to become a reseller of Microsoft's Windows Server 2008. Yup, Cisco is going to bundle Microsoft's upcoming OS with its WAN optimization gear for branch offices. Cisco says it will embed a virtualization component with its Wide-Area Application Services (WAAS) appliance to enable customers to host Microsoft's OS services within their existing branch networks.
Writing in Microsoft's Windows Server Division blog, Adam J. Skewgar, Microsoft group product manager, branch and storage solutions, says of the partnership: "IT can offer all of the performance and availability benefits of having base IT services in the branch office without the need for extra hardware. In fact, deployment is all centrally managed, entirely through software."
The bundle will be available later this year.
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Why?!?
Would anyone want a windows server on a networking device?!? just see what happened to Packeteer with their crappy iShapper...
Does Cisco thinks we are stupid?
The whole point of Server Consolidation is to reduce the need to manage windows server's on the remote... so should I replace a server with a virtual one on Cisco crappy hardware? did any of you have a look at their WAE platforms?!?
Yes, but many companies use Windows for local network services
WAAS, after many patches, is finally ready for prime time product, and the ability to host a simple, centrally-managed Windows server (that only needs to be backed up once) for DHCP & DNS is valuable. This isn't meant to be a file/print/app/swiss army type of server.
Hardware
Their hardware is IBM, are you calling IBM hardware crap?
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