Cisco has launched a new marketing web site featuring video super heroes that defend the universe from botnets and identity theft. The webisodes of The Realm feature original work from Marvel Comics illustrator Mike Mayhew, and are apparently timed to this week's release of The Watchmen. The superhero characters are linked to real-life CIsco engineers, who will face down the BotNet threat.
But super heroes are nothing new in the data center. The Realm's team of super engineers join other super beings keeping the data center safe and advancing truth, justice, energy efficiency and : DCX Man, Green Data Center Man, the Fabric Fanatic and even Mr. T, who apparently can use Force Lightning to virtualize IT equipment (who knew?). Here's our review of Data Center Superheroes:
DCX Man
Brocade Systems created DCX Man to champion the benefits of the DCX Backbone. And also to make fun of Cisco, its primary rival in the data center networking arena. DCX Man is the offspring of a workaholic, life-long IT manager and the data center's cleaning woman - a former Russian figure skater and chess master who was exposed to gamma radiation. In the FCOE Standards Caper, he uses his superpowers (the ability to see data and virtualize himself) to thwart the ambitions of Slycorp and its chairman, Rex Monoplis, as they seek to hijack an Internet standards committee meeting. DCX Man has his own video game, comic book, wallpapers, screensavers, ringtones and instant message buddy icons. It's clever stuff, but the site can take a while to load.
Voltaire: Mad About the Unified Fabric
A chief information officer becomes a "fabric fanatic," and his wife is not entirely sure what to do about it. This video from switch vendor Voltaire invokes "Risky Business" in an unexpected way. Is this your CIO?