Cisco: virtualization is homeward bound

During Cisco's third quarter conference call last week, CEO John Chambers talked about Cisco's intention of bringing virtualization all the way from the data center into the home. Hey, is that really my cat???

First of all, what is a virtualized home and why would we want it? Colin Dixon, broadband media practice manager at market tracker The Diffusion Group, has an interesting take on this in his blog.

Basically, Dixon describes home virtualization as "having" something -- like a movie or book -- in your possession when it's not physically in your home. It's not the location of teh book or movie that matters, just that you have access to it.

Sounds simple enough. In fact, Dixon points out, we're already virtualized at home when we send a Youtube link to a friend, or rent and download a movie to our computers or set-top boxes, or DVR a show that we can't watch live.

Things get complicated, however, when we want to share digital media between DVRs, MP3 players, digital cameras and PCs, Dixon points out. That's where virtualization, supported through standards like Universal Plug and Play and Digital Living Network Alliance, comes in.

Cisco has made  its appetite for consumer and home digital networking and entertainment no secret. The recent launch of the Linksys Home Media Hub lets the company play in the next multibillion dollar opportunity. And just as businesses and service providers want to harness virtualization for scale, economy, cost efficiency and seamless access, so too will consumers.

Therein lies Cisco's opportunity, Dixon notes:

When combined with its wide-area offerings, Cisco is building a formidable end-to-end network by which consumers can access their media regardless of device, location, or network. Virtualization in the home is thus key to Cisco's long-term vision.

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• Cisco
• digital home
• home networking
• virtualization