As the demand for next-generation data center services increases, organizations have embraced virtualization and cloud-computing technologies that require security architectures to be more dynamic, automated, and services-oriented. Most network security technologies have not kept pace, they are static and fail to protect against modern threats. Additionally, siloed security technologies are a networking and data center team's worst nightmare-they often require that the network be "dumbed" or retrofitted to accommodate security approaches.

This is why Cisco has embraced security as part of an end-to-end architecture. Cisco builds in security functions as part of the network fabric to help ensure an automated and resilient infrastructure. Our latest Secure DC bundle pairs the industry-leading router (Nexus 7000) and firewall (ASA 5585) to provide the backbone for a dynamic network with which to accelerate the adoption of newer and more capable applications and services. Various mix-and-match configuration options make this bundle ideal for data centers or any size industry. 

Key Benefits include:

• Maximized Availability and Uptime: Optimized traffic flows via integration with Virtual Port Channel, Fabric Path and asymmetric support eliminates the need to "dumb" down networks or make other network compromises
• Multi-Scale Security:  Performance density is eight times greater than other firewall solutions - up to 700,000 connections per second and 80 gigabits per second.
• Intelligent Automation:  Accelerate secure provisioning and user access to applications and resources via shared protocols and communication. Reduce manual firewall rules by 80 percent.
• Excellent ROI: Up to US$30,000 in purchase savings with vastly improved power utilization and efficient design, and -16 percent input power compared to competitive firewalls.

Please contact your local account manager, partner, or me to learn more about this bundle or other ways to help enable secure data center innovation.