Cisco unveils AI server, 'Pods' to simplify AI infrastructure deployments

The server is managed by Cisco Intersight, a SaaS-delivered package that can manage a variety of systems from Kubernetes containers to applications, servers, and hyperconverged environments from a single location.

Cisco expects customers will combine the new servers with its recently announced Nexus 9364E-SG2 switch. The high-density 800G aggregation box supports port speeds from 400 to 200 and 100 Gbps and includes support for high-speed optical network connections Open System Form Factor Plus (OSPF) and Quad Small Form Factor Pluggable Double Density (QSPF-DD).

“To train GenAI models, clusters of these powerful servers often work in unison, generating an immense flow of data that necessitates a network fabric capable of handling high bandwidth with minimal latency. This is where the newly released Cisco Nexus 9364E-SG2 Switch shines,” wrote Jeremy Foster and Kevin Wollenweber in a blog post. Foster is senior vice president and general manager of Cisco Compute, and Wollenweber is senior vice president and general manager of Cisco Networking, Data Center and Provider Connectivity.

“Its high-density 800G aggregation ensures smooth data flow between servers, while advanced congestion management and large buffer sizes minimize packet drops—keeping latency low and training performance high. The Nexus 9364E-SG2 serves as a cornerstone for a highly scalable network infrastructure, allowing AI clusters to expand seamlessly as organizational needs grow,” Foster and Wollenweber wrote.

New Cisco AI Pods

Along with the new hardware, Cisco introduced AI Pods, which are preconfigured, validated, and optimized infrastructure packages that customers can plug into their data center or edge environments as needed. The Pods are based on Cisco Validated Design principals, which offer customers pre-tested and validated network designs that provide a blueprint for building reliable, scalable, and secure network infrastructures, according to Cisco.

The Pods include Nvidia AI Enterprise, which features pretrained models and development tools for production-ready AI, and are managed through Cisco Intersight.