Tony - Cisco will be introducing an Intel-based Firewall.
The following article, pertaining to memory, details Cisco's new Firewall that uses a Serverworks Chip Set - which works with Intel's Pentium III and XEON processors.
"Cisco Systems has already unveiled its new Secure PIX Firewall appliance, which uses DDR SDRAM supported by ServerWorks' new HE Super Lite chipset. "
Paul
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Cisco and other networking vendors may adopt FCRAM
By Jack Robertson, EBN
Apr 10, 2001 (9:53 AM)
URL: ebnews.com
Cisco Systems Inc. is one of several networking equipment vendors that will adopt new Fast Cycle RAMs (FCRAM) and DDR SDRAMs as memory in next-generation products, according to industry sources. With the commodity PC sector delivering ever slimmer margins, makers of networking equipment are being wooed by DRAM makers eager to drive into more profitable territory with application-specific memory devices.
Faster than SDRAM and more cost-effective than SRAM, these chips will be put to the test as early as this year, according to analysts.
Cisco confirmed that it has already selected DDR SDRAM --supported by a ServerWorks chipset -- for use in its new Internet firewall appliance. Direct Rambus DRAM, which is just breaking into the high end of the PC market, is also looking to establish a beachhead in the networking sector.
FCRAM, a lesser known architecture invented in the mid-'90s by Fujitsu Ltd., is also expected to make waves, although a Cisco spokesman declined to say whether the company will include the memory in upcoming switches or routers. Fujitsu is already reporting a market for the chips, however, and is sampling a 256Mbit FCRAM for networking applications.
Fumio Baba, vice president of systems devices at Fujitsu Microelectronics Inc., San Jose, said full production will start in the second half and networking products with the new memory will reach the market late this year. Together with production already under way for set-top boxes, graphics boards, and cell phone memory, FCRAM production has reached a million units a month, according to Baba.
Interestingly, sources said that DRAM market leader Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., for all its prowess, may be shut out of FCRAM for the next several years as demand develops.
A spokesman for San Jose-based Samsung Semiconductor Inc. said the company is interested in all types of memory, but declined to offer specifics. “Our understanding is that the networking community believes the FCRAM market would benefit from the security afforded by multiple supply sources,” he said.
However, Samsung may have difficulty obtaining an FCRAM license from Fujitsu, which isn't interested in opening up the technology to the broader market just yet.
“The market is still very small and can be served by Fujitsu and Toshiba, which we have already licensed,” Baba said.
“FCRAMs are also very application specific and tailored to individual customer requirements. It isn't a commodity product that can be built by multiple sources. Perhaps someday in the future, if the market expands sufficiently, we may consider adding other suppliers,” Baba said.
FCRAM has immediate appeal for manufacturers of network equipment because its switching speeds are twice as fast as conventional SDRAM and Direct RDRAM, according to Bob Merritt, an analyst at Phoenix-based Semico Research Corp. Merritt projected FCRAM will account for about 1% of the memory sold into the networking equipment market by the end of the year, increasing to between 5% and 8% by 2005.
FCRAM's switching speed comes from its unique design, which preloads a charge on the chip concurrent with writing or reading data from a cell. The precharge activates the cell immediately after the previous operation is completed, so the memory cell can instantly accept a new read/write instruction.
Baba said this allows FCRAMs to switch at 25 to 30 nanoseconds, compared with 50 to 70ns for SDRAMs and Direct RDRAM. He said fast SRAMs are also popular in network products, although they are expensive.
While networking-market FCRAM sales are expected to mushroom, other memory types will hold their own because, unlike PCs, networks scatter memory around the box, with various functions connected to their own, individual memories.
“Each application and company uses in-house designs to achieve system goals,” said Jim Sogas, vice president of sales at Elpida Memory Inc. “Each design team chooses the memory they think will provide the best performance and cost solution.”
While DRAM flavors will remain varied, Sogas said networking companies will nevertheless move to higher-bandwidth memories such as DDR and Direct Rambus.
Cisco Systems has already unveiled its new Secure PIX Firewall appliance, which uses DDR SDRAM supported by ServerWorks' new HE Super Lite chipset. |
