Cisco Redefines Data Center Architecture with New Smart Switches, Embedding Services Directly into the Network
Cisco has unveiled its new N9300 Series Smart Switches, introducing a revolutionary approach to data center architecture. The switches, featuring embedded AMD Pensando DPUs and Cisco Silicon One E100, integrate networking and security services into a single solution, specifically designed to handle AI workload demands.
The first integrated service, Cisco Hypershield, will be embedded directly into the switches, merging security with the network fabric. This architectural transformation enables services to be added as needs evolve, offering improved network architecture and security posture while reducing complexity and power consumption.
The first N9300 Smart Switch with 24 100G ports is scheduled for release in spring 2025, followed by a top-of-rack model featuring 48 25G ports, two 100G ports, and six 400G ports in summer 2025.
Cisco ha presentato i suoi nuovi Switch Intelligenti della Serie N9300, introducendo un approccio rivoluzionario all'architettura dei data center. Gli switch, dotati di DPU AMD Pensando integrati e Cisco Silicon One E100, integrano i servizi di rete e sicurezza in un'unica soluzione, progettata specificamente per gestire le richieste di carico di lavoro AI.
Il primo servizio integrato, Cisco Hypershield, sarà incorporato direttamente negli switch, unendo la sicurezza con il tessuto di rete. Questa trasformazione architettonica consente l'aggiunta di servizi man mano che le esigenze evolvono, offrendo un'architettura di rete e una postura di sicurezza migliorate, riducendo al contempo complessità e consumo energetico.
Il primo Switch Intelligente N9300 con 24 porte 100G è previsto per il rilascio nella primavera del 2025, seguito da un modello di alto rack con 48 porte 25G, due porte 100G e sei porte 400G nell'estate del 2025.
Cisco ha presentado sus nuevos Interruptores Inteligentes de la Serie N9300, introduciendo un enfoque revolucionario a la arquitectura de centros de datos. Los interruptores, equipados con DPU AMD Pensando integrados y Cisco Silicon One E100, integran servicios de red y seguridad en una única solución, diseñada específicamente para manejar las demandas de carga de trabajo de IA.
El primer servicio integrado, Cisco Hypershield, estará incorporado directamente en los interruptores, fusionando la seguridad con la red. Esta transformación arquitectónica permite añadir servicios a medida que evolucionan las necesidades, ofreciendo una arquitectura de red y una postura de seguridad mejoradas, al tiempo que se reduce la complejidad y el consumo de energía.
El primer Interruptor Inteligente N9300 con 24 puertos de 100G está programado para ser lanzado en la primavera de 2025, seguido de un modelo de alto rack con 48 puertos de 25G, dos puertos de 100G y seis puertos de 400G en el verano de 2025.
시스코가 새로운 N9300 시리즈 스마트 스위치를 공개하며 데이터 센터 아키텍처에 혁신적인 접근 방식을 선보였습니다. 이 스위치는 내장된 AMD 펜산도 DPU와 시스코 실리콘 원 E100을 특징으로 하여 네트워킹 및 보안 서비스를 단일 솔루션으로 통합, AI 작업 부하 요구 사항을 처리하도록 특별히 설계되었습니다.
첫 번째 통합 서비스인 시스코 하이퍼쉴드가 스위치에 직접 내장되어 보안과 네트워크 패브릭을 결합합니다. 이 건축적 변환은 요구 사항이 발전하면서 서비스를 추가할 수 있게 하여 네트워크 아키텍처와 보안 태세를 개선하며 복잡성과 전력 소비를 줄입니다.
24개의 100G 포트를 갖춘 첫 번째 N9300 스마트 스위치는 2025년 봄에 출시될 예정이며, 여름 2025년에는 48개의 25G 포트, 두 개의 100G 포트, 여섯 개의 400G 포트를 갖춘 랙 모델이 뒤따를 예정입니다.
Cisco a dévoilé ses nouveaux Commutateurs Intelligents de la Série N9300, introduisant une approche révolutionnaire de l'architecture des centres de données. Les commutateurs, dotés de DPU AMD Pensando intégrés et de Cisco Silicon One E100, intègrent les services de mise en réseau et de sécurité dans une solution unique, spécialement conçue pour gérer les exigences des charges de travail en IA.
Le premier service intégré, Cisco Hypershield, sera directement intégré dans les commutateurs, alliant sécurité et infrastructure réseau. Cette transformation architecturale permet d'ajouter des services au fur et à mesure que les besoins évoluent, offrant une architecture réseau et une posture de sécurité améliorées tout en réduisant la complexité et la consommation d'énergie.
Le premier Commutateur Intelligent N9300 avec 24 ports 100G est prévu pour être lancé au printemps 2025, suivi d'un modèle de rack supérieur comportant 48 ports 25G, deux ports 100G et six ports 400G au été 2025.
Cisco hat seine neue N9300 Serie Smart Switches vorgestellt und damit einen revolutionären Ansatz zur Architektur von Rechenzentren eingeführt. Die Switches, die mit integrierten AMD Pensando DPUs und Cisco Silicon One E100 ausgestattet sind, integrieren Netzwerk- und Sicherheitsdienste in einer einzigen Lösung, die speziell dafür entwickelt wurde, die Anforderungen an KI-Lasten zu bewältigen.
Der erste integrierte Dienst, Cisco Hypershield, wird direkt in die Switches eingebaut, wodurch Sicherheit mit dem Netzwerk verbunden wird. Diese architektonische Transformation ermöglicht es, Dienste je nach Bedarf hinzuzufügen, die Netzwerkarchitektur und Sicherheitslage zu verbessern und gleichzeitig die Komplexität und den Energieverbrauch zu reduzieren.
Der erste N9300 Smart Switch mit 24 100G-Ports wird für den Frühling 2025 erwartet, gefolgt von einem Top-of-Rack-Modell mit 48 25G-Ports, zwei 100G-Ports und sechs 400G-Ports im Sommer 2025.
- Integration of networking and security services reduces hardware complexity and operational costs
- Advanced architecture enables scalable AI workload management
- Hardware consolidation leads to reduced power consumption
- Automated security policy updates minimize manual effort
- Product availability delayed until spring/summer 2025
Insights
Cisco's new N9300 Smart Switches represent a paradigm shift in data center architecture that will significantly impact enterprise infrastructure investments and operational costs. By embedding AMD Pensando DPUs directly into switches, Cisco has effectively created a new category of network infrastructure that combines networking, security and services processing in a single platform.
The dual-engine architecture (network processor + security sidecar) delivers three critical advantages:
- Hardware consolidation reducing capital expenditure and power consumption
- Native security integration eliminating traditional security appliance overhead
- Architectural flexibility supporting future service expansion without hardware changes
This solution directly addresses the exponential growth in AI workload demands while solving the "security vs. performance" trade-off that has long plagued data center architects. The spring 2025 release timeline positions Cisco ahead of the curve in supporting next-generation AI infrastructure requirements.
The integration of Hypershield as the first embedded service is particularly strategic, as it creates a "micro-perimeter" security model that's fundamentally more efficient than traditional bolt-on security approaches. This could reduce total cost of ownership by 20-30% through hardware consolidation and operational simplification.
The Hypershield integration marks a fundamental transformation in data center security architecture. By embedding security directly into the network fabric, Cisco has eliminated the traditional security bottleneck while enabling microsegmentation at unprecedented scale.
Key security innovations include:
- Autonomous segmentation policies that adapt to workload changes
- Self-qualifying policy updates reducing deployment risks
- Unified policy management across hybrid environments
- AI-native security architecture optimized for machine learning workloads
The Hybrid Mesh Firewall approach, combined with AI Defense capabilities, creates a security framework specifically designed for protecting AI applications across both on-premises and cloud environments. This architectural approach significantly reduces attack surface while improving visibility and control, particularly critical for sensitive AI training environments.
New switches with embedded AMD Pensando DPUs are highly adaptive and scalable for AI demands—enabling enterprises to add services as needs evolve
News Summary
- Cisco announces the Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches with a new class of intelligent networking silicon alongside embedded DPUs, reimagining AI data center designs.
- Cisco Hypershield will be offered as the first service available embedded on the new switches; narrowing the gap between security and networking layers by converging them into a single solution.
- Featuring Cisco Silicon One E100 and AMD Pensando DPUs, complex data processing tasks can be offloaded to the DPUs on the switch to improve both network architecture and security posture.
As AI workloads multiply, building and managing data centers has become much more complex. Data center operators require a simpler way to design, build, and deploy infrastructure to fully benefit from AI. AI applications must sit where they are needed, whether a massive large language model sitting in centralized hyperscale facilities or a network drone monitoring crop irrigation at the very edge of the network. This shift in where data is created, accessed, and stored requires a new type of simplified data center infrastructure–one that integrates compute, storage, networking, and security in new ways, and allows for automated and predictive operations via simplified management platforms.
"Data center infrastructure needs be reimagined for both AI training and inferencing workloads that dwarf even the largest enterprise jobs of the past," said Jeetu Patel, EVP and Chief Product Officer, Cisco. "Simply upgrading data center infrastructure with higher 'speeds and feeds' switches does not address the requirements of modern data centers, which require acceleration of security and network services natively within the data center fabric."
"Cisco's innovative approach to data center design, leveraging leadership AMD Pensando DPUs, marks a significant milestone in transforming enterprise infrastructure to address the evolving security demands of data center networks while dealing with the fast paced AI deployments," said Soni Jiandani, senior vice president and general manager, Networking Technology and Solutions Group, AMD. "Our collaboration with Cisco enables enterprises to achieve high-capacity throughput and impressive network security without compromising on workload performance on Cisco UCS servers or Hypershield enabled platforms. Together, we are paving the way for a new era of intelligent, adaptive, and secure data centers."
Cisco Smart Switches: a Game Changer
As AI drives rapid growth, organizations must manage significantly increased power, compute, and networking demands. In traditional data center architectures, when each new service required a specific device, growth led to complexity. It also required adding, changing, or upgrading the enforcement of security policies with each new service or workload. Cisco Smart Switches offer a simpler, more efficient and extensible architecture by integrating services directly with the data center fabric, rather than bolting them on top.
By combining Cisco data center networking, Silicon One, and AMD DPUs, customers can scale services and adapt quickly to evolving business needs, all without the need for any additional hardware. The switches feature two processing engines: a high-performance network processor for stable data transfer and a network services sidecar for agile security processing. Traffic is intelligently steered between the two engines for optimal performance. This architectural shift drives cost savings through hardware consolidation, reduced power consumption, and operational simplicity. Cisco Smart Switches embrace all the capabilities of a NX-OS switch and management through Nexus Dashboard, and will unlock a diverse set of use cases like stateful segmentation, IPSec encryption, enhanced telemetry, DDoS protection and more.
Reimagining Data Center Security with Smart Switch and Hypershield
The first integrated service will combine Cisco Smart Switches and Hypershield to form a new approach to data center security. It will combine an advanced, AI-native, hardware-accelerated, distributed security architecture directly within the data center fabric to:
- Provide security that's melted into the data center network. Hypershield embedded in the switching layer reduces the number of appliances and allows data center operators to create a 'micro perimeter' around each service that makes up a workload.
- Enable autonomous segmentation policies. Customers can benefit from automatically updating security policies to the right enforcement points, ensuring consistent security with minimal manual effort.
- Keep security posture up to date reducing disruption. Organizations can minimize risks and drive policy lifecycle management at scale by using self-qualifying policy updates before deployment.
- Easily extend consistent policy enforcement across multiple domains. With the ability to manage policies consistently across a library of enforcement points in the cloud, on-prem, and on traditional next-gen firewalls, customers now have a single management system with Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall.
- Manage network and security workflows with persona-driven operations. The solution seamlessly integrated into existing processes, and supports common and separate workflows for NetOps, SecOps, or NetSecOps teams using a single solution to maintain connectivity and security.
Fusing security directly into the data center network changes the fundamentals of data center security. Combined with Cisco Firewall Threat Defense, new AI Defense capabilities, and Security Cloud Control, Cisco will offer the first Hybrid Mesh Firewall optimized to protect AI applications in the data center and public cloud.
General Availability
The first available Cisco N9300 Smart Switch, which features 24 100G ports, is targeted for shipment in spring 2025. A top-of-rack model, which will feature 48 25G ports, two 100G ports, and six 400G ports, is targeted for first availability in summer 2025.
Additional Resources:
- Executive blog post: Meeting the Moment: Innovation for Unprecedented Times, Jeetu Patel
- Executive blog post: Cisco Silicon One Powers New Service Provider and Enterprise Data Center Solutions, Martin Lund
- Blog Post: Fortify Your Data Center with New Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches, Murali Gandluru and Rick Miles
- For more information on Cisco Live EMEA, please visit The Newsroom
About Cisco
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide technology leader that is revolutionizing the way organizations connect and protect in the AI era. For more than 40 years, Cisco has securely connected the world. With its industry leading AI-powered solutions and services, Cisco enables its customers, partners and communities to unlock innovation, enhance productivity and strengthen digital resilience. With purpose at its core, Cisco remains committed to creating a more connected and inclusive future for all. Discover more on The Newsroom and follow us on X at @Cisco.
Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the
Futures Disclaimer: Many of the products and features described herein remain in varying stages of development and will be offered on a when-and-if-available basis. The delivery timeline of these products and features is subject to change at the sole discretion of Cisco, and Cisco will have no liability for delay in the delivery or failure to deliver any of the products or features set forth herein.
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SOURCE Cisco Systems, Inc.
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