What makes this amazing is the new F2 card this new switch supports. 48 SFP+ interfaces that can handle 1 gig or 10 gig on every port. The card will also take copper gbic’s and supports layer 2 and layer 3. The only catch here is if you want this card to work with the M1 or F1 cards it will need to run on a separate VDC. Doing this creates a much more complicated scenario. It also requires an expensive license from Cisco to enable the feature.

To summarize

If you are starting from scratch and need the flexibility of copper or fiber then this is the way to go. Its a great way to start migrating your network over to 10 gig as well. Once the core is in you can swap out the 1 gig gbics for 10 gig gbics as you upgrade your edge switches.

While Cisco may be keeping their CUWL licensing, they have introduced a more user based licensing solution to replace the DLU model in their introduction of User Connect Licensing or UCL.  UCL is an A La Carte menu for application licenses that offers a new license model that, aside from the exclusion of CER and a few other application licenses, is nearly 100% user based.    Furthermore, all customers moving up from a version 7 or prior will be converted to UCL unless you pay the upgrade for CUWL or already own it.

The foundation of User Connect Licensing starts out with the choice of two primary licenses.  The first option is a basic license that is pretty much useless. The only two phones it supports do not even include a display.  Furthermore, UCL is user based and licensing is purchased individually for every feature.  For example, assume every user will need an enhanced license for call control, then the same train of thought can be applied to a voicemail license or any other added featured in your system. 

Consequently, UCSS and ESW are handled in the exact same manner of being user based with additional features being charged individually.  Cisco has made clear as long as a customer has active UCSS when they move from the old licensing model, they will be converted to the new UCL model at no cost to the end user.

Just a few of the huge Positives gained by this new model:

• Easier and more cost effective to deploy new applications
• A low user count that needs a specific application will have a more relative cost
• Added ability to customize licensing for public space area’s conferencing etc.

Unified Concepts has performed this analysis numerous times for our customers and has consistently substantiated the benefits in implementing Cisco’s UCS and UCL model.  However, the one glaring negative we have seen is the cost increase in Essential Software Warranty (ESW) specifically for call control.  Fortunately the increase in ESW cost applies only for call control while the rest of the UCSS and ESW costs for all other parts of the solution remain unaffected Furthermore, it should be noted that with the elimination of MCS servers and its associated cost reduction, the inflated ESW cost for call control ultimately cancels itself out. 

Overall, Unified Concepts believes the arrival of UCS and User Connect Licensing is a great change from Cisco.  Cisco is providing a revolutionary solution to simplifying a once complicated world of licensing and provisioning.  Of course, Unified Concepts not only recognizes the importance to understanding all the nuances when making this jump, we also believe it is extremely advantageous to execute a well planned transition to Cisco’s UCS and UCL solution.

The most prominent and evident change to be noted is UCS (Unified Computing Systems) and the introduction of Cisco in the server market.  Cisco has launched Cisco branded UCS servers making the previously required MCS series HP or IBM servers unnecessary in the UC solution.  Additionally, if you purchase a Cisco UCS server along with VMware 4, you can now “officially” run most of your UC applications in a virtual environment and consequently eliminate your inventory of MCS servers from your data center. 

The positives you get from Cisco’s new UCS solution are:

• Consolidation
• Redundancy
• Faster deployment
• Less Smartnet on the servers
• Lower power and cooling usage

There are specific OVA (VMWare) templates for most of the supported UC applications.  The only negative in the way Cisco works with VMWare is the way in which resources are assigned application wise—meaning the specified amount of cores and required user or device count are directly correlated with one another.  Additionally, the same reassignment of resources is applied to the allocation of memory.  You also are not able to run any other (NON Cisco) applications on the Cisco VMware server either. There is a maximum of four Cisco apps per server.

Although this may not be a 100% ideal scenario it is still a great step in the right direction. Cisco has also been running some amazing specials on their servers as well. This is probably an attempt to push hard into a market they were not part of until recently. If you are in need of upgrading your Cisco Unified Communications including Call Manager and Unity this is definitely the direction you want to look at. Right now Cisco UCS will not only save you money but it will be a better overall solution.

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