Cisco 'Big Bang' coming

LAS VEGAS -- First there was the Nexus 7000 for the data center...then the ARS 1000 for the router edge...

Get ready for the "Big Bang" on campus. As expected, Cisco is developing a significant product launch for the enterprise campus under the codename "Big Bang."

Marie Hattar, vice president of network systems and security solutions marketing, would not divulge details on Big Bang at the Interop 2008 conference. But she said it is a code name for a campus product launch that’s not likely to happen in calendar 2008.

“You’ll see a big bang but not a forklift,” Hattar says on the upcoming campus refresh. “It’s an evolutionary big bang.”

Observers have been speculating that a significant upgrade for Cisco’s campus product line, anchored by the aging Catalyst 6500 switch, could follow the overhauls of the data center and edge aggregation router product lines with the respective introductions of the Nexus 7000 and ASR 1000. Some observers believe a variant of the Nexus 7000 could succeed the Catalyst 6500 in the campus environment.

Enhancements to the Catalyst 6500 may precede Big Bang, Hattar says, like delivery of the Cisco TrustSec security architecture on the switches; and supervisor and interface modules that continue to stretch the platform’s lifecycle, like those unveiled for the 6500 and Catalyst 4500 late last year.

Cisco’s been offering the Catalyst 6500 and 4500 switches for the enterprise campus since 1999.