Billion-euro fund and infrastructure offer: Cisco is fully committed to AI
In cooperation with Nvidia, Cisco wants to benefit from the AI boom in the infrastructure area. The new complete package is called Nexus HyperFabric AI Cluster.
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- Benjamin Pfister
In future, Cisco wants to offer the basic infrastructure for AI projects as a complete package. To this end, the manufacturer presented its Nexus HyperFabric AI Cluster concept at the Cisco Live in-house exhibition in Las Vegas. This is intended to simplify the provision of the basic infrastructure with which generative AI models and applications can be implemented, managed and monitored. Cisco promises that this can even be done without in-depth IT knowledge and skills. In parallel to the cooperation, Cisco has set up a billion-euro fund for AI start-ups.
The infrastructure is made up of various components. Cisco uses Nvidia MGX as a modular server architecture for AI. To optimize the development and use of generic AI workloads, Nvidia's AI enterprise software will be paired with its NIM microservices to accelerate the provision of basic models. Nvidia's Tensor Core GPUs are used as GPUs, starting with the Nvidia H200 NVL. Nvidia BlueField-3 DPUs and BlueField-3 SuperNICs are used as function-enhanced network cards to optimize access speeds and apply security policies at the same time. Cisco is already working with Nvidia in other areas.
Strategic AI investments
Cisco provides a cloud application for management with the corresponding workflows. The underlying network infrastructure is based on Cisco's Nexus 6000 data center switches for a Leaf Spine architecture. This is intended to provide a 400G and 800G fabric, for which Cisco also provides corresponding QSFP DD optics. Cisco relies on the VAST Data Platform for data storage and as the underlying database.
Selected customers will be able to test the complete package from the fourth quarter of 2024. According to Cisco, general availability will follow shortly afterward.
At the same time, Cisco has set up an investment fund in the amount of one billion US dollars. It is intended to make strategic investments in start-ups to create the basis for secure, reliable and trustworthy AI solutions. Initial investments for generative AI have already been made in the start-ups Cohere, Mistral AI and Scale AI. They are set to complete the AI ecosystem.
(mho)
