Cisco Cisco MGX-FRSM-HS2 B Serial Frame Service Module Livre blanc
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entire devices. For example, if four devices are deployed at the recommended 75 percent capacity
to allow for scaling, 25 percent of each device is unused. In this simple four-device example, the
aggregated unused resources equal the capacity of an entire device (4 times 25 percent equals
100 percent). When extrapolated to real-life data center scenarios in which dozens or hundreds of
devices are deployed, the costs associated with such unused reserved resources are significant.
Cisco ACE’s virtual partitioning capability in combination with the module’s unmatched scalability,
delivering up to 16 Gbps throughput per module, enables multiple virtual devices to share the
same physical Cisco ACE device while at the same time allocating resources for future growth.
With Cisco ACE, costly forklift upgrades are no longer necessary. Using a “pay-as-you-grow”
model, the Cisco ACE enables scaling from 4 Gbps to 8 Gbps to 16 Gbps throughput on a single
Cisco ACE module using only a software license upgrade. In addition, up to four Cisco ACE
modules can be deployed in a single Cisco Catalyst
®
6500 Series Switch chassis to deliver up to
64 Gbps throughput: performance and scale far beyond that offered by any competitor.
Reduced Data Center Resource Requirements
The unique virtualization capabilities of Cisco ACE enable customers to drastically reduce both
physical and environmental data center resources, resulting in significant overall cost savings
associated with application delivery. As previously discussed, Cisco ACE allows administrators to
roll out additional applications simply by configuring additional virtual devices within the same
physical Cisco ACE module, rather than deploying additional hardware platforms. As a result,
network sprawl is reduced and additional cabling requirements and incremental rack space
requirements are eliminated. In addition, because Cisco ACE reduces the number of physical
devices in the network, it also significantly reduces power consumption and costs in the data
center, even as customers deploy additional applications. Indeed, Cisco ACE is the only
application delivery solution that enables customers to scale application delivery service without
requiring incremental power requirements. Because no additional power is required to support
additional applications deployed by adding virtual devices, power consumption per unit actually
decreases as organizations scale upward, making Cisco ACE the most energy-efficient, high-
performance solution available.
Unmatched Service Continuity Through Advanced High-Availability Capabilities
For high availability, Cisco ACE supports stateful redundancy with both active-active and active-
standby designs. Stateful redundancy is crucial because it enables user sessions to continue
uninterrupted during a failover event. Cisco ACE pairs can be deployed either within the same
Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series chassis or, more commonly in redundant data center designs, within
two physically separate Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series chassis. This flexibility allows the Cisco ACE to
easily fit into the existing network architecture rather than requiring costly and time-consuming
network design activities.
Stateful Cisco ACE redundancy can be enabled on a per-virtual-device basis,, isolating a failure to
its specific virtual device. With Cisco ACE, a failover event in one virtual device does not impact
operation of other virtual devices. In addition, only the failed virtual device undergoes a failover
event, rather than the whole physical device, resulting in nearly instant failover and outstanding
service continuity.
Redundancy per virtual device allows users to use both Cisco ACE modules simultaneously in an
active-active configuration, optimizing Cisco ACE utilization and maximizing Cisco ACE return on
investment (ROI). In a traditional active-standby high-availability design, the primary Cisco ACE is
active, and all the virtual devices within the primary Cisco ACE module are active. If the primary