Shalom says one of the main attractions of Cisco UCS is that it comes with an application programming interface (API) that gives the GigaSpaces Extreme Application Platform (XAP) management console direct access to the hardware.

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This does not mean GigaSpaces will abandon the platform-independent version of its software, but it does mean encouraging new customers--or existing customers launching new projects--to consider Cisco UCS as a platform with significant advantages for grid or cloud-style applications.

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We also would not be surprised to see Cisco became the next major OEM to move toward this model given the push into the server market (UCS).

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