Cisco has revealed plans to deliver new technologies that will enable customers to virtualise and secure their networks.
Cisco is offering a new approach for how companies build and manage network infrastructure, expanding its Digital Network Architecture (DNA). Cisco’s new offering is in response to legacy networks which are struggling to combat security threats, or keep pace with the demands of today’s mobile workforce.
In response to these network challenges, Cisco is building upon two core elements of Cisco DNA – network virtualisation and integrated security.
The networking giant, with digital network transformation in its cross hairs, is introducing a new hardware platform and virtual network services to extend virtualisation to branch locations. The purpose-built branch platform, Cisco Enterprise Network Compute System (ENCS 5400 Series), has been designed to help customers accelerate their Enterprise NFV deployments. ENCS allows customers to extend routing, security, WAN optimisation and other network services to other branch environments.
This is in addition to a new solution that allows customers to virtualise their network perimeter and extend it to colocation centers. The new Cisco Secure Agile Exchange allows organisations to dynamically connect customers, employees and partners using on-demand, virtualised network services.
Read more: Containers vs Virtualisation: Red Hat, Docker & AWS take on VMware, Microsoft & Oracle
Cisco DNA has also bolstered its integrated security by introducing two new features, with the first being the Cisco Identity Service Engine (ISE) 2.2. Offering visibility and control of both users and devices on the network, ISE 2.2 offers much deeper visibility into applications on endpoints, including detection of anomalous behaviour.
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Cisco TrustSec has also been upgraded, with version 6.1 providing software-defined 
segmentation to isolate attacks and restrict movement of threats in the network. Cisco claims that this dynamic segregation makes security policy changes 98% faster than traditional methods, with an 80% reduction in operational efforts. TrustSec 6.1 is now available across Cisco’s entire enterprise networking portfolio.
