Cisco has unveiled a new switching platform in the form of the Nexus 7000. Sporting a new operating system and management interface, it was designed to serve the next generation of mission-critical data center needs.

The speed of this new platform is mind boggling. The top end Nexus 7000 chassis can support up to 512 10-gigabit-per-second (Gbps) ethernet connections, or a whopping 15 terabits per second of switching capacity.

Excerpt from MarketWatch:

Cisco says that the new data-center switch would be able to copy all the searchable data on the Internet in 7.5 minutes, download Wikipedia’s database in 10 milliseconds or download 90,000 Netflix movies in less than 40 seconds. It also can run 5 million concurrent transcontinental videoconferences using the company’s Telepresence Collaboration systems, a company spokeswoman said.

One of Cisco’s competitors, Juniper Networks Inc., is expected to introduce its own high-capacity switch as well.

Cisco’s product will be available in the second half of 2008.