In Ashlee Vance’s recent article in the New York Times, she talks about a new routing system Cisco introduced:  The CRS-3.

“According to Cisco, the CRS-3 could deliver up digital copies of all the movies ever made in about four minutes. Measured another way, the system could facilitate a video call with every person in China at the same time.

Such networking feats clearly designate the CRS-3 as a product meant for carriers and large service providers, handling monster amounts of data traffic,” writes Vance. This particular system has an interesting history.

“In 2004, it brought out the CRS-1 and billed it as the final bridge from the analog to the digital age and called the product the “foundation for the future of communications,” explains Vance. She goes on to say:

“Cisco has since sold about 5,000 of the systems to 300 customers.

Mr. Chambers argued that people had underestimated the need for the CRS-1 when it was first announced. But rising network demand created a large market for the product.

This time around, Mr. Chambers expects video, mobile data and collaboration software to drive demand for even greater network capacity.

Mr. Chambers said that the CRS-3 had about 12 times the capacity of rival hardware. He declined to put a name on that rival gear, but you would expect he was going after products from Juniper.

“We agree with Cisco that the Internet and networks themselves require fundamental change, but Juniper takes a different, open-standards approach that better benefits service provider economics and end-user experiences,” said Mike Marcellin, a vice president of marketing at Juniper, in a statement. “That’s why we’ve been delivering 100GB-capable systems since 2007. We welcome Cisco to the 100GB club.””

For most, the CRS-3 is too much power in one high performance router. But Cisco’s profile of routers are designed for all business types from small to behemoth. Companies have been relying on them for years and from the sound of it, that cutting-edge reliability isn’t about to end.

In a recent article on Cisco’s blog, Kalpana Ettensen writes, “Today, along with our storage partners, Cisco is greatly expanding our channel partners’ ability to offer customers Microsoft-based private cloud, data warehouse, or OLTP configurations based on shipping Cisco UCS server and Nexus networking products. Three standalone, discrete reference architectures are now available: A Cisco-developed SQL Server 2008 R2 Data Warehouse solution; a Cisco-developed SQL Server 2008 R2 Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) offer; and Cisco as the server partner with NetApp as they bring to market their NetApp for Private Cloud offer as part of Microsoft’s Hyper-V Private Cloud program.”

Cisco, for years, has been the industry leader in networking hardware and has recently branched out to other aspects of the market including software. Because of that, this comes as no surprise.  The company seems to be getting better and better and since they’ve already conquered the hardware sector, why not expand?

Some speculate that this may lead Cisco to split its focus too much, especially with the failure of the Flip camera which Cisco has just continued. But there’s really no reason to stick just to routers and switches when Cisco’s penchant for technology already makes them a trailblazer. Better to stay ahead of the trends than behind them.

Cisco recently announced the discontinuation of the Flip video camera, and its intent to close the division that manufactures it. This decision will result in the loss of the $590 millions Cisco invested to purchase the rights to make the phone and will result in putting almost 600 people out of work.

Why won’t anyone buy it?

Unfortunately, in this time of multi-tasking devices like smart phones and ipads, Flip does only one thing– records video. And that simply isn’t enough. It’s not where this market is going even though Flip is the number one device in its class.

Ironically, the Flip still sells but doesn’t fit with Cisco’s ever-evolving strategy to remain at the top of the tech field.

Cisco, the global leader in switches and routers and everything else that relates to networking hardware and technology, might be classified as an “over-achiever.” The company’s latest product is the affordable, stylish, Flip video camera. With over one thousand design options that include logs from your fave sports teams to psychadelic colors and animated characters, the new light-weight, super slim video recorder retails for under $130.  And did we mention that if you’re too picky to settle on one of the premade images, you can upload your own? The 4G version lasts for 1 hour and the 8G doubles that, but the 16G is the way to go if you want to use your Flip to make your own epic movie with four hours of recording time.

Three different versions exist including a ‘slide’ version which is horizontal (for you wide-screen fans). It certainly looks like Cisco has made the leap from corporate hardware to personal and fun devices that almost anyone can enjoy. That’s why we love you, Cisco. Keep dreaming, and we’ll keep buying.

With unemployment the highest nationally we’ve seen in years and people losing their jobs left and right, many are making mid-life career changes. One industry that’s still growing is that of technology and computer networking hardware repair. If you consider that industry giant Cisco just announced its intention to buy Inlet for a mere $95 million, it’s evident that some companies are faring better in the economic downturn than others.

What does that mean for you?

Well, maybe you should consider a career in the technology industry. As long as there are Cisco routers, switches, telephony, wireless, and mobile devices, there will need to be professionals knowledgeable enough to repair them when they break. And as well designed as they are, we know that sometimes they break. It’s technology, people.

Cisco offers five levels of general IT certification: Entry, Associate, Professional, Expert and Architect,  which is the highest level of accreditation within the Cisco Career Certification program. They also offer seven different tracks which allow interested parties to specialize in areas they prefer while obtaining a very marketable skill. If you think this might be your calling, check out Cisco’s website. The tracks are:

• Routing and Switching: This path is for professionals who install and support Cisco technology-based networks in which LAN and WAN routers and switches reside.
• Design: This path is aimed at professionals who design Cisco technology-based networks in which LAN and WAN routers and switches reside.
• Network Security: This path is directed toward network professionals who design and implement Cisco Secure networks.
• Service Provider: This path is aimed at professionals working with infrastructure or access solutions in a Cisco end-to-end environment primarily within the telecommunications arena.
• Storage Networking: This path is for professionals who implement storage solutions over extended network infrastructure using multiple transport options.
• Voice: This path is directed toward network professionals who install and maintain Voice solutions over IP networks.
• Wireless: This path is designed for network professionals who configure, implement and support wireless networks.

Interested in knowing which line cards Cisco has discontinued and what the upgrade options are? We’ve got it for you!

Cisco Catalyst 4500 Non-E Series Line cards were discontinued in August 2010. Customers are encouraged to migrate to the Cisco Catalyst 4500 E-Series line cards and systems. The Cisco Catalyst 4500 E-Series Switch is the high-performance next-generation Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Switch. The Catalyst 4500 E-Series Switch is ideal for Cisco Borderless Networks deployments at the access, core, and distribution layers and has been designed to address generation customer deployments such as voice and video.

Cisco 160C3/POS-SM; 160C3/POS-MM; 80C3/POS-SM; and 80C3/POS-MM were discontinued in March 2008. The recommended replacement for the Cisco 12000 Series 8- and 16- port OC-3C/STM-1C POS Line Cards are the 16OC3X/POS-M-MJ-B(=),16OC3X/POS-I-LC-B(=),8OC3X/POS-MM-MJ-B(=),8OC3X/POS-IR-LC-B(=) line cards.

The Cisco 12000 Series 1-port OC-48C/POS line cards were discontinued in Sept. 2006. The recommended replacement for the Cisco 12000 Series OC-48c/POS Line Card, FC Connector Cards are the OC48X/POS-SR-SC(=), and OC48X/POS-LR-SC(=) line cards.

The Cisco 12000 8-port OC-3/STM-1ATM Line card was discontinued in May 2005. The recommended replacement for the Cisco 12000 Series Eight-Port OC-3/STM-1 ATM Line Card is the Cisco 12000 Series 4-Port OC-3/STM-1 ATM ISE Line Card.

Several other Cisco 12000 series line cards have also been discontinued.

If you’d like to purchase discontinued line cards, you can do so by checking with a reputable alternative Cisco provider like MULTI-LINK Communications Products. MLCP specializes in refurbished, pre-owned, and used Cisco products as well as new surplus items.