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Internet Research Group Publishes
Research Study On
Cisco’s New QFP – Quantum Flow Processor
Los Altos, CA ,
May 22,
2008
Internet Research Group (IRG) today
announced the release of its latest report on the network infrastructure,
“Cisco QFP – Software Genius or Hardware Folly?”
In February 2008, Cisco
introduced the Aggregation Services Router (ASR) 1000. In addition to the
expectable feeds and speeds improvements, the ASR 1000 has important
systematic improvements because it is easier to reconfigure and administer
with minimal service distribution. At the core of these broader
improvements is a greater use of conventional programming as an alternative
to programmable hardware or the use of obscure firmware. Underneath this use
of high-level language software we find in turn a new Cisco
designed-processor– the Quantum Flow Processor (QFP). This 40-core, 4
thread, MIPS instruction set CPU, if and when it is used more broadly
throughout the Cisco product family, may set the stage for new,
differentiated functionality based on the ability to high-throughput deep
packet processing using conventional high-level code that can be shared
between products and product generations diminishing engineering costs and
product development time in future products.
“Cisco’s $100M investment
to create QFP could be a brilliant way to invest in hardware for the purpose
of doing more in software,” noted Peter Christy, co-founder of IRG. “But
we’ll have to see how broadly the concept is used within Cisco going
forward. If successful it will prove to be a very intelligent system design
and a difficult act for smaller competitors to follow.”
This report examines both
the business and technical aspects of QFP in order to shed light on the
return that Cisco may yield from its investment in QFP and the competitive
challenges posed by the QFP.
Vendors potentially
impacted by QFP include: AMD, Broadcom, Check Point, Extreme Networks, F5,
Fortinet, Foundry Networks, IBM/ISS, Juniper, Intel, Tipping Point, Secure
Computing and SonicWall.
You can download a
table of contents for this study
by clicking here.
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About Internet Research Group --
The Internet Research Group (IRG)
provides marketing and strategy research reports and consulting services,
specializing in areas related to the interaction of networks and
applications.
Editor’s note:
John Katsaros is available to
provide background discussion, quotes or references for articles related to
network infrastructure and security.
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