In today's bipolar market it is hard to buy anything, says Michelangelo Volpi, Cisco's chief dealmaker.

FORBES: Cisco Kidding?

"We wanted something that could enable someone today, or last for ten years, " Volpi says.

FORBES: Oh My Guinness

Ultimately 5, 000 people got Kaval's pitch, including Michelangelo Volpi, head of Cisco's routing business and a fellow Stanford business graduate.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Neither Michelangelo Volpi, general manager of the project, nor anyone else at Cisco is too sure why anyone would want this much capacity.

FORBES: Oh My Guinness

Volpi admits that, after two years of pursuing an "end-to-end" strategy, "our initial focus" now is only on the first end served by Cerent.

FORBES: Cisco Kidding?

David de Volpi did the balmy, serene cinematography.

NEWYORKER: Strangers in Good Company

"This is one of the most significant things to come along in the last 10 years in networking, " says Mike Volpi, a former executive at Cisco who is now a partner at Index Ventures.

WSJ: An Upgrade Race for Data Centers