SAN Devices

Cisco MDS 9124V 64-Gbps 24-Port Fibre Channel switch brings the latest high-performance, low-latency Fibre Channel Storage Area Network (SAN) technology to market. Along with the higher bandwidth, the Cisco MDS 9124V switch supports ease of configuration and management, detailed and in-depth performance insights, and automation capabilities.

The next-generation Cisco MDS 9124V 64-Gbps 24-Port Fibre Channel Switch provides high-speed Fibre Channel connectivity for all-flash arrays and high-performance hosts. This switch offers state-of-the-art analytics and telemetry capabilities built into its next-generation Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) chipset. This switch allows seamless transition to Fibre Channel Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe/FC) workloads whenever available without any hardware upgrade in the SAN. It empowers small, midsize, and large enterprises that are rapidly deploying cloud-scale applications using extremely dense virtualized servers, providing the benefits of greater bandwidth, scale, and consolidation. Some of the main benefits for a small-scale Storage Area Network (SAN) are automatic zoning, nonblocking forwarding and a single port group of 24 ports. Benefits for a mid- to large-size SAN include higher scale for Fibre Channel control-plane functions, Virtual SANs, fabric login (FLOGI), device alias and name server scale, 24 ports of 64-Gbps non-oversubscribed line-rate ports, bidirectional airflow, and a fixed-form NVMe/FC-ready SAN switch with enhanced Buffer-to-Buffer (B2B) credits and capable of hardware-assisted Fibre Channel link encryption. Large-scale SAN architectures built with SAN core directors can expand 64-Gbps connectivity to the server rack using these switches configured in either switch mode or Network Port Virtualization (NPV) mode. Additionally, the switch supports enhanced diagnostic features such as Inter-Switch Link (ISL) and Host-Bus-Adapter (HBA) diagnostics, remote SFP (Read Diagnostic Parameter) diagnostics, remote port beaconing (Link Cable Beaconing) and advanced reliability features such as link level Forward Error Correction (FEC) with HBA ports.

Cisco MDS 9124V 64-Gbps 24-Port Fibre Channel switch brings the latest high-performance, low-latency Fibre Channel Storage Area Network (SAN) technology to market. Along with the higher bandwidth, the Cisco MDS 9124V switch supports ease of configuration and management, detailed and in-depth performance insights, and automation capabilities.

Product overview

The next-generation Cisco MDS 9124V 64-Gbps 24-Port Fibre Channel Switch (Figure 1) provides high-speed Fibre Channel connectivity for all-flash arrays and high-performance hosts. This switch offers state-of-the-art analytics and telemetry capabilities built into its next-generation Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) chipset. This switch allows seamless transition to Fibre Channel Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe/FC) workloads whenever available without any hardware upgrade in the SAN. It empowers small, midsize, and large enterprises that are rapidly deploying cloud-scale applications using extremely dense virtualized servers, providing the benefits of greater bandwidth, scale, and consolidation. Some of the main benefits for a small-scale Storage Area Network (SAN) are automatic zoning, nonblocking forwarding and a single port group of 24 ports. Benefits for a mid- to large-size SAN include higher scale for Fibre Channel control-plane functions, Virtual SANs, fabric login (FLOGI), device alias and name server scale, 24 ports of 64-Gbps non-oversubscribed line-rate ports, bidirectional airflow, and a fixed-form NVMe/FC-ready SAN switch with enhanced Buffer-to-Buffer (B2B) credits and capable of hardware-assisted Fibre Channel link encryption. Large-scale SAN architectures built with SAN core directors can expand 64-Gbps connectivity to the server rack using these switches configured in either switch mode or Network Port Virtualization (NPV) mode. Additionally, the switch supports enhanced diagnostic features such as Inter-Switch Link (ISL) and Host-Bus-Adapter (HBA) diagnostics, remote SFP (Read Diagnostic Parameter) diagnostics, remote port beaconing (Link Cable Beaconing) and advanced reliability features such as link level Forward Error Correction (FEC) with HBA ports.

The next-generation Cisco^® MDS 9132T 32-Gbps 32-Port Fibre Channel Switch (Figure 1) provides high-speed Fibre Channel connectivity from the server rack to the SAN core. It empowers small, midsize, and large enterprises that are rapidly deploying cloud-scale applications using extremely dense virtualized servers, providing the dual benefits of greater bandwidth and consolidation. Small-scale SAN architectures can be built from the foundation using this low-cost, low-power, non-blocking, line-rate, and low-latency, bi-directional airflow capable, fixed standalone SAN switch connecting both storage and host ports. Medium-size to large-scale SAN architectures built with SAN core directors can expand 32-Gbps connectivity to the server rack using these switches either in switch mode or Network Port Virtualization (NPV) mode. Additionally, investing in this switch for the lower-speed (4- or 8- or 16-Gbps) server rack gives you the option to upgrade to 32-Gbps server connectivity in the future using the 32-Gbps Host Bus Adapter (HBA) that are available today. The Cisco^® MDS 9132T 32-Gbps 32-Port Fibre Channel switch also provides unmatched flexibility through a unique port expansion module (Figure 2) that provides a robust cost-effective, field swappable, port upgrade option. This switch also offers state-of-art analytics and telemetry capability built into its next generation ASIC platform. SAN telemetry computed on switch integrated hardware from the IO flows, can be analyzed on board via CLI or NX-API and also streamed to any analytics visualization tool via the dedicated port.

Main Features

The main features of the MDS 9132T 32-Gbps 32-Port Fibre Channel Switch include:

? High performance: MDS 9132T architecture, with chip-integrated nonblocking arbitration, provides consistent 32-Gbps low-latency performance across all traffic conditions for every Fibre Channel port on the switch.

? Capital Expenditure (CapEx) savings: The 32-Gbps ports allow users to deploy them on existing 16- or 8-Gbps transceivers, reducing initial CapEx with an option to upgrade to 32-Gbps transceivers and adapters in the future.

? High availability: MDS 9132T switches continue to provide the same outstanding availability and reliability as the previous-generation Cisco MDS 9000 Family switches by providing optional redundancy on all major components such as the power supply and fan. Dual power supplies also facilitate redundant power grids.

? Pay-as-you-grow: The MDS 9132T Fibre Channel switch provides an option to deploy as few as eight 32-Gbps Fibre Channel ports in the entry-level variant, which can grow by 8 ports to 16 ports, and thereafter with a port expansion module with sixteen 32-Gbps ports, to up to 32 ports. This approach results in lower initial investment and power consumption for entry-level configurations of up to 16 ports compared to a fully loaded switch. Upgrading through an expansion module also reduces the overhead of managing multiple instances of port activation licenses on the switch. This unique combination of port upgrade options allow four possible configurations of 8 ports, 16 ports, 24 ports and 32 ports.

Main features

The main features of the MDS 9132T 32-Gbps 32-Port Fibre Channel Switch include:

• High performance: MDS 9132T architecture, with chip-integrated nonblocking arbitration, provides consistent 32-Gbps low-latency performance across all traffic conditions for every Fibre Channel port on the switch.
• Capital Expenditure (CapEx) savings: The 32-Gbps ports allow users to deploy them on existing 16- or 8-Gbps transceivers, reducing initial CapEx with an option to upgrade to 32-Gbps transceivers and adapters in the future.
• High availability: MDS 9132T switches is designed to provide 99.999% availability. It provides such outstanding availability and reliability by providing redundancy on all major components, such as the power supply and cooling subsystems. Dual power supplies also facilitate redundant power grids.
• Pay-as-you-grow: The MDS 9132T Fibre Channel switch provides an option to deploy as few as eight 32-Gbps Fibre Channel ports in the entry-level variant, which can grow by 8 ports to 16 ports, and thereafter with a port expansion module with sixteen 32-Gbps ports, to up to 32 ports. This approach results in lower initial investment and power consumption for entry-level configurations of up to 16 ports compared to a fully loaded switch. Upgrading through an expansion module also reduces the overhead of managing multiple instances of port activation licenses on the switch. This unique combination of port upgrade options allow four possible configurations of 8 ports, 16 ports, 24 ports and 32 ports.
• Next-generation Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC): The MDS 9132T Fibre Channel switch is powered by the same high-performance 32-Gbps Cisco ASIC with an integrated network processor that powers the Cisco MDS 9700 48-Port 32-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module. Among all the advanced features that this ASIC enables, one of the most notable is inspection of Fibre Channel and Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) headers at wire speed on every flow in the smallest form-factor Fibre Channel switch without the need for any external taps or appliances. The recorded flows can be analyzed on the switch and also exported using a dedicated 10/100/1000BASE-T port for telemetry and analytics purposes.
• Intelligent network services: Slow-drain detection and isolation, VSAN technology, Access Control Lists (ACLs) for hardware-based intelligent frame processing, smartzoning and fabric wide Quality of Service (QoS) enable migration from SAN islands to enterprise wide storage networks. Traffic encryption is optionally available to meet stringent security requirements.
• Sophisticated diagnostics: The MDS 9132T provides intelligent diagnostics tools such as Inter-Switch Link (ISL) diagnostics, read diagnostic parameters, protocol decoding, network analysis tools, and integrated Cisco Call Home capability for greater reliability, faster problem resolution, and reduced service costs.
• Virtual machine awareness: The MDS 9132T provides visibility into all virtual machines logged into the fabric. This feature is available through HBAs capable of priority tagging the Virtual Machine Identifier (VMID) on every FC frame. Virtual machine awareness can be extended to intelligent fabric services such as analytics1 to visualize performance of every flow originating from each virtual machine in the fabric.

High Performance and Flexibility at Low Cost

Up to 48 autosensing Fibre Channel ports are capable of speeds of 2, 4, 8, and 16 Gbps, with 16 Gbps of dedicated bandwidth for each port. The base switch model comes with 12 ports enabled, and can be upgraded as needed with the 12-port Cisco MDS 9148S On-Demand Port Activation license to support configurations of 24, 36, or 48 enabled ports. Only the Cisco MDS 9148S scales from 12 to 48 high-performance Fibre Channel ports in a single 1RU form factor. The 16-Gbps MDS 9148S is the first generation of NVMe ready Fibre Channel 1RU switches1 When deployed as a N-Port virtualization (NPV) node or as an N-Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) core connecting legacy Fibre channel switches or multi-protocol Nexus NPV switches, it provides a flexible and scalable option for host connectivity.

High-Availability Platform for Mission-Critical Deployments

In environments in which downtime is intolerable, the Cisco MDS 9148S offers In-Service Software Upgrades (ISSU). This means that Cisco NX-OS Software can be upgraded while the Fibre Channel ports carry traffic. The Cisco MDS 9148S includes dual redundant hot-swappable power supplies and fan trays, PortChannels for Inter-Switch Link (ISL) resiliency, and F-port channeling for resiliency on uplinks from a Cisco MDS 9148S operating in NPV mode. New hardware based slow port detection and recovery provide enhanced performance and monitoring capability.

Simplified Storage Management with Sophisticated Diagnostics

The Cisco MDS 9148S offers built-in storage network management and SAN plug-and-play capabilities. All features are available through a Command-Line Interface (CLI) or Cisco Prime DCNM for SAN Essentials Edition, a centralized management tool. Cisco DCNM task-based wizards simplify management of single or multiple switches and fabrics. For virtual infrastructure, it manages the entire path: from the virtual machine and switch to the physical storage. The Cisco MDS 9148S also supports PowerOn Auto Provisioning (POAP) to automate software image upgrades and configuration file installation on newly deployed switches. Additionally, it provides intelligent diagnostics, protocol decoding, network analysis tools, and Cisco Call Home for added reliability, faster problem resolution, and reduced service costs.

Intelligent Network Services and Advanced Traffic Management

The Cisco MDS 9148S uses virtual SAN (VSAN) technology for hardware-enforced, isolated environments within a physical fabric. It offers access control lists (ACLs) for hardware-based, intelligent frame processing. Advanced traffic management features, such as fabricwide Quality of Service (QoS) and Inter-VSAN Routing (IVR), are included in the optional Cisco MDS 9000 Family Enterprise Package. QoS prioritizes application data traffic for better and more predictable network service. Zone-based QoS simplifies configuration and administration by using the familiar zoning concept. IVR facilitates resource sharing across VSANs without compromising scalability, reliability, availability, and network security.