Preface

This book is the result of the work done by the authors initially at Nuova Systems and subsequently at Cisco Systems on Project California, officially known as Cisco Unified Computing Systems (UCS).

UCS is a innovative technology platform that consolidates many traditional data center technical skill sets into one system. For this reason, the authors, from three very different backgrounds (and even different countries), have decided to combine their knowledge to publish this book together.

The book describes UCS from an educational view: We have tried to provide updated material about all server components and new data center technologies, as well as how these components and technologies are used to build a state of the art data center server.

We wish to express our thanks to the many engineering and marketing people from both Nuova Systems and Cisco Systems with whom we have collaborated with during the recent years.

UCS would not have been possible without the determination of the Cisco management team. They understood the opportunity for Cisco in entering the server market and decided to pursue it. Our gratitude goes out to them.