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pww.comCisco Systems, Inc. Presents at Cowen’s Networking Leaders, Legends, Luminaries, and Visionaries Fireside Chat Series, Oct-05-2020 - NasdaqGS:CSCO

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Rakesh Chopra [Executives] 💬

Rakesh Chopra provided insights on Cisco's Silicon One technology and related developments. Here is a detailed summary of his comments:

  1. Background and Role: Rakesh Chopra is a Cisco Fellow and has been with Cisco since 1997. He focuses on system architecture across Cisco's routing and switching portfolio.

  2. Development of Silicon One:

    • The development of Silicon One began around 6-7 years ago.
    • The team conducted an analysis of Cisco's existing product portfolio and competitors' offerings, finding that existing technologies would run out of steam by 2019.
    • Investments were made in various areas including printed circuit board materials, heat things, connectors, memories, silicon, and optics.

  3. Architecture of Silicon One:

    • Silicon One is designed to take a holistic approach to networking problems and deploy a unified architecture across service provider and web-scale markets.
    • It rethinks fundamental limitations of older architectures, leveraging newer silicon process nodes.
    • Innovations include a new fabric element that overlays on top of a standalone processor, enabling high scale and high bandwidth.
    • A new run-to-completion engine is purpose-built for networking, offering the efficiency of a fixed pipeline architecture with the benefits of run-to-completion.
    • The architecture supports standalone nodes, line card processors, and fabric elements.

  4. Customer Benefits:

    • Converging multiple architectures under one simplifies network architecture and reduces complexity for customers.
    • Power efficiency is a key focus, reducing power consumption and cooling costs.
    • Silicon One enables lower power systems, which can significantly reduce operational expenses (OpEx).

  5. Performance Metrics:

    • The Cisco 8000 series router based on Silicon One offers 10.8 terabits of routing performance at 415 watts of power.
    • This represents a significant reduction in power compared to previous Cisco products, such as the NCS 6008 with 11 kilowatts of power.
    • Customers have reported positive feedback, suggesting that the actual performance might be better than expected.

  6. Routing vs. Switching:

    • The initial focus on routing with Silicon One is due to the 10.8 terabit rate, which is more suitable for service provider routers.
    • For web-scale switching, which prefers power-of-two rates, future iterations of Silicon One will be more suitable.

  7. Customer Engagement:

    • Customers have been closely engaged throughout the development process to ensure that Silicon One addresses their true pain points.
    • Understanding customer needs helps in creating technology that solves real-world problems.

  8. Cloud Networking:

    • Silicon One addresses the shift to cloud networking by enabling higher bandwidth, programmability, and buffering in parts of the network that were previously constrained.
    • It helps reduce complexity and focus on delivering customer experiences.

  9. Software Integration:

    • Cisco has created a clean and easy-to-use software development kit (SDK) for customers using Silicon One as a silicon-only product.
    • An SAI abstraction layer is layered on top of the SDK for customers wanting to run SONiC.
    • For Cisco 8000 systems, IOS XR7 offers carrier-grade capabilities and includes API abstraction layers for automation and zero-touch provisioning.
    • Security features include secure root of trust, code authenticity verification, and runtime monitoring.

  10. Future Directions:

    • Cisco is working on integrating silicon and optics as optics become more prevalent in networking.
    • The transition to in-package optics is expected to occur between the 51.2 and 102 co-generation.
    • Cisco is committed to maintaining a broad portfolio of technology, including internal and acquired technologies like Acacia.

  11. Silicon One Iterations:

    • While the cadence of silicon releases is typically 12-24 months for most architectures, Silicon One enables a unique proposition for Cisco.
    • Stay tuned for exciting developments in the future.

  12. Closing Remarks:

    • The name "Silicon One" reflects a unified architecture that can be deployed across different form factors and business models.

    • It represents a single experience for customers and is an exciting time for Cisco.

Marty Palka [Executives] 💬

During the transcript of the Cisco Systems, Inc. presentation at Cowen’s Networking Leaders, Legends, Luminaries, and Visionaries Fireside Chat Series on October 5, 2020, Marty Palka, an executive from Cisco, made the following statements:

  1. Disclosure Statement:

    • Marty Palka began by providing a disclosure statement, noting that the audio cast is educational in nature and does not contain new financial information.
    • He mentioned that forward-looking statements would be made during the presentation.
    • Marty emphasized that actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties outlined in Cisco's most recently filed 10-Q and 10-K.

  2. Educational Audio Cast Disclosure:

    • Marty reiterated the educational nature of the audio cast and the potential for forward-looking statements.
    • He reminded listeners that actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements and referred to the risks and uncertainties found in Cisco's filings.

Marty Palka's statements primarily focused on providing necessary disclosures and reminders regarding the nature of the presentation and the cautionary notes regarding forward-looking statements and the risks associated with them.