2011 Chairperson's Message

Claudio DeSanti
Fellow
Data Center Group
Cisco Systems

Ethernet keeps advancing, and the Ethernet Technology Summit continues to be the best place to track what is happening. Since our last event, FCoE went into widespread use, 10GE turned mainstream in the data center, and 40/100GbE products became available.

This year we have added workshops on OpenFlow and network partitioning, plus sessions on unified fabrics, TRILL, and techniques to reduce delay and packet loss. We continue to have the popular workshops on terabit Ethernet and 25 Gbps signaling, and tutorials on 40/100GE and convergence on Ethernet (including FCoE). Other continuing topics include Ethernet and virtualization, Ethernet and cloud computing, plus sessions on market research, security, Carrier Ethernet, and Ethernet’s future.

Future networks will need simplified management, converged protocols, lower power consumption, and higher speeds. New services continue to appear while bandwidth demand keeps increasing. Ethernet remains at the center of activities in data centers, enterprise networks, clouds, clusters, and many other areas.

The Ethernet Technology Summit will prepare you for today’s expansion of Ethernet by providing workshops, tutorials, presentations, panels, expert tables, market research, keynotes, and exhibits. The Summit is for everyone, from those who are just beginning to evaluate new Ethernet applications to experienced Ethernet-savvy technologists. Moreover, it offers a place for Ethernet designers at all experience levels to check out new offerings, share insight, and learn from leaders in the field.

Please join me in trading ideas with colleagues and gaining new perspectives during presentations from leading edge Ethernet companies. Learn about the latest advances in protocols and standards. Hear about new approaches to Ethernet hardware and software. Speak directly to the experts. Ask questions during expert panels and other interactive sessions. Find out what is happening today and learn where Ethernet is heading.

If you want to be successful designing and deploying Ethernet-based systems, creating products for Ethernet networks, or working with Ethernet at any level, don’t miss the Third Annual Ethernet Technology Summit. See you there!

About the Chairperson:
Claudio DeSanti is a Fellow in the Data Center Group at Cisco. His activity is focused on Data Center networking and Cisco's Unified Computing System technologies.

He represents Cisco in several National and International Standards Bodies and in industry associations. He is vice Chairman of the INCITS T11 Technical Committee, Chairperson of various working groups, and editor of different standards. He is co-author of the book "I/O Consolidation in the Data Center", published by Cisco Press. He received many honors and awards, including the INCITS 2010 Service Award and the INCITS 2008 Technical Excellence Award. He holds a Ph.D. in computer engineering from the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa, Italy.