IBM and Cisco have teamed up on VersaStack, an integrated infrastructure design for the data centre. It is built on Cisco’s unified communications services and Nexus 9000, alongside IBM’s Storwize 7000 storage arrays.
The integration should help both companies refine their data centre and storage capacities while maintaining quality and providing more control to the users, according to Cisco’s VersaStack design guide.
"By integrating standards based components that are compatible, scalable and easy to use, VersaStack addresses customer issues during the planning, design and implementation stages," the guide wrote.
"When deployed, the efficient and intuitive front-end tools provide the means to manage the platform in an easy and agile manner."
"The VersaStack architecture thus mitigates customer risk and eliminates critical pain point while providing necessary guidance and measurable value."
IBM is hoping VersaStack will attract storage customers, while Cisco expects it to attract UCS owners looking for tighter integration.
According to The Register, 15 partners of both IBM and Cisco are already using VersaStack on a test basis.
"VersaStack is the optimal integrated infrastructure platform to host a variety of IT workloads. Cisco and IBM have created the foundation for a flexible and scalable platform for multiple use cases and applications," the guide added.
"From virtual desktop infrastructure to SAP®, VersaStack can efficiently and effectively support business-critical applications running simultaneously on the same shared infrastructure."
