Cisco Boosts Data Center Capacity with New Silicon One and Routing Innovations
Cisco is significantly expanding its data center infrastructure capabilities with a new wave of Silicon One-powered systems and routing technologies, designed to meet the escalating demands of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. The company’s latest advancements promise unprecedented bandwidth and connectivity for modern data center interconnects.
Expanding the Silicon One Portfolio
Cisco continues to build upon its Silicon One platform, introducing new chips and systems to address diverse networking needs. These building blocks include the recently released G300, alongside the G200 – a 51.2 Tbps chip optimized for spine and aggregation applications – and the G100, delivering 25.6 Tbps for leaf operations.
In October, Cisco unveiled the P200 Silicon One chip and the flagship 51.2 Tbps 8223 router, specifically engineered for distributed AI workloads. This system supports both Octal Small Form-Factor Pluggable (OSFP) and Quad Small Form-Factor Pluggable Double Density (QSFP-DD) optical form factors, enabling support for geographically dispersed AI clusters.
New 800G Switching and SONiC OS Support
This week, Cisco further expanded the G200 family with the addition of the 8122X-64EF-O, a 64x800G switch. The new switch will operate on the SONiC OS and incorporates support for Cisco 800G Linear Pluggable Optics (LPO) connectivity. According to a company release, LPO components establish direct links between fiber optic modules, streamlining connections by eliminating the need for traditional components like a digital signal processor.
Enhanced Core Routing and Data Center Interconnects
Cisco announced that its P200 systems, running IOS XR software, now offer improved support for core routing services. This enhancement facilitates robust data-center-to-data-center links and advanced data center interconnect applications.
Furthermore, Cisco introduced a P200-powered 88-LC2-36EF-M line card, delivering 28.8T of capacity. “Available for both our 8-slot and 18-slot modular systems, this line card enables up to an unprecedented 518.4T of total system bandwidth, the highest in the industry,” stated Guru Shenoy, senior vice president of the Cisco provider connectivity group. “When paired with Cisco 800G ZR/ZR+ coherent pluggable optics, these systems can easily connect sites over 1,000 kilometers apart, providing the high-density performance needed for modern data center interconnects and core routing.”
These innovations underscore Cisco’s commitment to providing scalable and high-performance networking solutions for the evolving demands of modern data centers and the increasingly interconnected world.
