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SANTA CLARA, Calif — On Tuesday Dec 18, Intel released a software initiator package to drive the development of Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) solutions for the Linux operating system.

FCoE is a proposed specification that will allow Fibre Channel SAN traffic to run over Ethernet. By consolidating LAN and SAN traffic onto a single fabric, FCoE will simplify network infrastructure in the datacenter.

The FCoE software package is now available for download at Open-FCoE.org and can be modified according to the terms of the GPLv2 license. As part of the package, Intel has included a target simulator, so Linux developers can test and modify the FCoE software stack. Open-FCoE.org is open to all FCoE developers for source code download, code contribution and feedback.

Cisco Systems submitted the initial FCoE proposal to the Fibre Channel standards body, T11, in April. As a member of the T11, Intel is committed to working with Cisco and other companies to drive industry enablement of FCoE.

“Fiber Channel over Ethernet will be a key capability for our customers offering seamless server and storage access in the data center,” said Jayshree Ullal, senior vice president of the Data Center, Switching and Services Group at Cisco Systems. “The emergence of 10 Gigabit Ethernet bandwidth combined with Cisco’s proposed extensions to Ethernet, enables a lossless and resilient fabric for Data Center I/O consolidation. Cisco is pleased to see Intel taking a leadership role in FCoE.”

The new FCoE initiator code is based on a specification being developed by the T11 in the FC-BB-5 work group. The FCoE specification is expected to be completed in 2008. More at Intel.

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands — Nov 26, ‘07 — Cisco announced today that Amsterdam ArenA, a premier multipurpose sporting and entertainment venue and home to AFC Ajax football club, has turned to Cisco to help make the famous stadium smarter.

With the deployment of Cisco Internet Protocol (IP) technology, the stadium is introducing several innovative services for the 2 million visitors it attracts each year. Visitors will be able to reserve seats from home, get access to real-time travel and parking information, and pay for tickets using their mobile phones. Spectators and sports fans can more easily access all stadium-related services and the organisation can deliver improved visitor service at every event.

Henk Markerink, director of the Amsterdam ArenA said: “The most important goal of the Amsterdam ArenA is to further improve the customer experience, which includes focusing even more closely on the entire service provision chain, from the moment the customer buys tickets, as they travel to the ArenA, the visit itself, to the time he or she is back at home and wants to book tickets again.

We aim to introduce the first services in the middle of next year.”

Integration with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology will make it possible to offer location-specific information to visitors as well.

Markerink added: “The Amsterdam ArenA depends strongly on its transport links. The public transport connections are perfect and the accessibility for motorists is fine, with four motorways nearby and parking for more than 11,000 vehicles. But if the area around the ArenA wants to grow further, then we need to improve mobility.

We also plan to send information to car navigation systems and mobile phones about the best route to take and where to park.”

Cisco has equipped a number of sporting arenas with similar intelligent networks, including the world-famous Bernabéu stadium in Madrid, the Allianz Arena in Munich, Ascot racecourse in the UK and the Misano racetrack in Italy. Thanks to a comparable ‘connected stadium’ infrastructure, the Amsterdam ArenA will be able to extend its reputation as a world-class multipurpose venue and business centre.”

Cisco technology to be deployed at Amsterdam ArenA includes Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series Switches, Catalyst 6500 Series Switches, Aironet wireless access points and CiscoWorks LAN Management Solution. More at Cisco.

New York, NY, UN HeadQuarters — November 01, ‘07 — The United Nations has teamed up with technology leaders Google and Cisco to launch a new online site to track global progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – the set of ambitious targets the world has set itself for slashing poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy and other social ills by 2015. 

MDG Monitor is a web application that tracks real-time progress toward the Goals in a number of categories in nearly every country in the world. In addition to featuring information on the MDGs, the new online resource will serve as an educational and advocacy platform with the most current data in areas such as public health, education and women’s empowerment.

Launching the project today at UN Headquarters in New York, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the MDG Monitor the “newest beacon in the fight against extreme poverty and inequality.” 

Among its features, MDG Monitor allows web surfers to use Google Earth to go anywhere on the planet and explore the places where work is being done to realize the MDGs, with access to country assessments and data collected by the UN worldwide.  

The online tool enables more than 300 million Google Earth users to better understand the Goals and what it will take to achieve them through the MDG Monitor website (www.mdgmonitor.org). 

“Google’s collaboration with the UNDP represents a belief that the MDGs stand for basic and critical human progress,” stated Michael T. Jones, Chief Technologist for Google Earth and Maps. 

Agreed by world leaders from 189 countries in New York in 2000, the MDGs call for quantified, time-bound progress in eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; achieving universal primary education; promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women; reducing child mortality; improving maternal health; combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability; and developing a global partnership for development. More at UN.

Beijing–Nov 01, ‘07–Network gear maker Cisco Systems announced a multiyear, $16 billion expansion in China on Thursday with investments in manufacturing, venture capital and education.

“We’re going to the next chapter for Cisco in China,” John Chambers, Cisco’s chief executive, said at a news conference.

The ventures include an agreement with Alibaba Group, China’s biggest online commerce company, to explore developing business services for small and medium-size companies, Chambers said. It has also made a similar pledge to ramp up its presence in India, where it plans to triple its workforce by 2012.

China and India are key battlegrounds for global technology firms, because of their massive domestic markets and the attractive low-cost manufacturing locations they offer.

Cisco is not planning a major expansion of its own manufacturing capacity but outlined a range of other initiatives including:

• Procuring more materials and components from Chinese companies

• A provisional £100m joint venture plan with China Development Bank to supply finance and support for innovative Chinese firms

• A provisional alliance with online business network Alibaba to buy a stake in the Chinese firm and jointly supply business solutions to small companies

• Funding an extra 300 networking academies in Chinese vocational colleges, training 100,000 students by 2010

• Setting up Cisco’s first “green” technology centre to focus on sustainable development

Cisco said China’s economic potential offered it huge opportunities, but it was equally committed to helping to tackle the country’s social and environmental challenges.

Under plans unveiled on Wednesday, Cisco’s Indian workforce will increase from 3,000 currently to 10,000 by 2010. Cisco intends to use its new factory in Bangalore as a research and development hub for products aimed at emerging markets in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.

The firm, which also plans to invest $100m in healthcare projects, said India was “at the heart of our globalisation vision and provides a platform for Cisco to capitalize on the growth potential in the emerging world”.

BBC News is reporting, “The Brazilian headquarters of computer network equipment maker Cisco Systems has been raided as part of an investigation into tax evasion. Authorities believe the unit may have imported $500m worth of equipment over the past five years without properly paying import duties.

The firm said its Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro offices had been temporarily closed and some staff detained. “We are currently in the process of establishing what exactly happened in Brazil, and determining how this investigation pertains to Cisco,” Cisco spokesman John Noh told the BBC. “We understand that a small number of employees have been detained. No formal charges have been brought against these employees.”

A former top Cisco executive for Brazil is among those under investigation, according to a Federal Judge Alexandre Cassetari. About 650 police and tax officials executed 93 search warrants and arrested 40 people. About $10m ($5m) worth of merchandise was seized, along with a commercial jet and 18 vehicles, authorities said.”

More at BBC News