Cisco also enhanced the single-domain UCS Manager with a new version of the product. Release 2.1 of UCS Manager allows for more simplified connectivity of Cisco C-series rack servers by adding features previously available only to blade form factors, such as reduced cabling and rapid application deployment, Cisco says.

UCS Manager 2.1 with the Cisco Virtual Interface Card (VIC) 1225 reduces the number of cables for virtual servers from nine down to two, Cisco says. The number of switches and adapters can also be reduced, the company says.

UCS Manager 2.1 also gives customers new storage topology choices, Cisco says. It supports multi-hop FCoE, for consolidation of LAN and SAN. FibreChannel zoning in UCS Manager 2.1 provides incremental scaling path with "pod" deployments requiring no SAN switches, Cisco says. And NetApp storage users can consolidate FCoE, iSCSI and NAS traffic on the same port and cable, the company says.

As of August 2012, there are more than 15,800 UCS customers, and more than half of the Fortune 500 have invested in the product, Cisco says.

Lastly, Cisco also enhanced its Intelligent Automation for Cloud management software with release 3.1. The 3.1 version of IAC features CloudSync, for cloud infrastructure discovery and resource tracking so administrators can assess resources and make necessary changes to optimize service delivery.