Cisco MDS 9000 Family 4 Gb FC Switching Modules

Choice of Application-Oriented Configurations

Three modules in one modular chassis

Combining Cisco 12-port, 24-port, and 48-port 4 Gb/sec switching modules in a single, modular chassis gives you the flexibility to design storage networks optimized for a wide range of applications.

Lower costs, easy to manage

This application-based approach to port deployment helps reduce the number of switches and ISLs required in a network, which in turn simplifies management, reduces costs, and lowers TCO.

Autosensing-compatible and hot-swappable

All Cisco 4 Gb/sec Fibre Channel switching modules are 1/2/4 Gb/sec autosensing compatible, hot-swappable and include hot-swappable, Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) LC interfaces. Individual ports can be configured with Cisco 4 Gb/sec short-wave, or long-wave SFPs for connectivity up to 10 kilometers at 4 Gb/sec.

Additionally, ports can be configured with Cisco 2 Gb/sec coarse wave division multiplexing (CWDM) SFPs for connectivity up to 100 kilometers at 2 Gb/sec. Up to 250 buffer credits per port are supported for maximum extensibility without requiring additional licensing. With the Cisco Enterprise Package, up to 4095 buffer credits can be allocated to an individual port, enabling full link bandwidth over thousands of kilometers with no degradation in link utilization.

12-Port 4 Gb/sec Fibre Channel Switching Module

The Cisco MDS 9000 Family 12-Port 4 Gb/sec Fibre Channel switching module delivers uncompromising performance in the most demanding storage networking environments. The 4 Gb/sec ports deliver up to 96 Gb/sec of full-duplex bandwidth, making the Cisco 12-Port Fibre Channel Switching Module ideal for attachment of the highest-performance 4-Gb/sec-enabled storage subsystems and for ISL connections between switches.

Multiprotocol connectivity

With its multiprotocol capability, the Cisco 12-Port 4 Gb/sec Fibre Channel switching module transparently integrates FICON protocol, FICON CUP management, and switch cascading to enable mainframe connectivity. VSANs allow hardware-based separation of Fibre Channel and FICON traffic switched on a single physical SAN, increasing overall TCO without compromising scalability, availability, manageability, and network security.

24-Port 4 Gb/sec Fibre Channel Switching Module

For high-performance storage networking environments, the Cisco MDS 9000 Family 24-Port 4 Gb/sec Fibre Channel switching module delivers an ideal balance of performance and scalability. Twenty-four auto-sensing 1/2/4-Gb/sec ports delivers 96 Gb/sec of total bandwidth required to meet the performance demands of today's enterprise-class storage arrays and servers.

24 Gb/sec bandwidth per port-group

Bandwidth is allocated across four 6-port port-groups, providing 24 Gb/sec of full-duplex bandwidth per port-group. Port Bandwidth Reservation, a unique Cisco feature available on the Cisco 24-Port 4 Gb/sec Fibre Channel Switching Module, enables switching bandwidth to be dedicated to a port, enabling optimal bandwidth allocation for any application, including high-performance ISLs.

48-Port 4 Gb/sec Fibre Channel Switching Module

Storage network consolidation moves to a new level with the transport optimization provided by the Cisco MDS 9000 Family 48-Port 4 Gb/sec Fibre Channel switching modules. With Cisco MDS 9000 Family 4 Gb/sec Fibre Channel switching modules, network architects can allocate bandwidth optimally to meet specific application requirements while decreasing the switching footprint and lowering overall storage network deployment cost.

96 Gb/sec of total bandwidth

The Cisco 48-Port 4 Gb/sec Fibre Channel switching module delivers 96 Gb/sec of total bandwidth and extremely high port density, enabling 528 ports per chassis and 1584 ports per rack. Bandwidth is allocated across four 12-port port-groups, providing 24 Gb/sec of full-duplex bandwidth per port-group. Port Bandwidth Reservation, a feature unique to Cisco available on the Cisco 48-Port 4 Gb/sec Fibre Channel switching module, enables switching bandwidth to be dedicated to a port, enabling the flexible bandwidth allocation needed to meet a wide range of application requirements.

Intelligent Scalability

Scales from 4 to 528 ports

The Cisco MDS 9000 Family offers high port density, scaling from 4 to 528 ports per chassis. Because building a large-scale storage network requires more than just high port density, Cisco has introduced innovative features that make multilayer storage networks a reality. VSANs, Inter-VSAN Routing (IVR), advanced traffic management, hardware-enabled serviceability, and comprehensive security features make the Cisco MDS 9000 Family the platform of choice for businesses requiring high scalability and low TCO.

Enable Consolidation

Virtual SANs

Ideal for efficient, secure SAN consolidation, VSANs allow more efficient storage network utilization by creating hardware-based isolated environments within a single physical SAN fabric or switch. Each VSAN can be zoned as a typical SAN and maintains its own fabric services for added scalability and resilience. VSANs allow the cost of SAN infrastructure to be shared among more users, while ensuring absolute segregation of traffic and retaining independent control of configuration on a VSAN-by-VSAN basis.

Integrated SAN Routing

In another step toward deploying the most efficient, cost-effective, consolidated storage networks, the Cisco MDS 9000 Family 4 Gb/sec Fibre Channel switching modules support IVR functionality for Fibre Channel. IVR allows selective transfer of data traffic between specific initiators and targets on different VSANs while maintaining isolation of control traffic within each VSAN.

With IVR, data can transit VSAN boundaries while maintaining control plane isolation, thereby maintaining fabric stability and availability. Integrated IVR eliminates the need for external routing appliances, greatly increasing routing scalability while delivering line-rate performance, simplifying management and eliminating the challenges associated with maintaining separate systems. Integrated IVR means lower total cost of SAN ownership.

Advanced Diagnostics and Troubleshooting

Proactive diagnostic tools

Managing large-scale storage networks requires proactive diagnostics, tools to verify connectivity and route latency, and mechanisms for capturing and analyzing traffic. The Cisco MDS 9000 Family integrates advanced analysis and debug tools.

Power-on self-test (POST) and online diagnostics provide proactive health monitoring. The Cisco MDS 9000 Family 4 Gb/sec Fibre Channel switching modules provide the integrated hardware functionality required to implement diagnostic capabilities such as Fibre Channel Traceroute for detailing the exact path and timing of flows, Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN), and Remote Switched Port Analyzer (RSPAN) to intelligently capture network traffic.

After traffic has been captured, it can then be analyzed with the Cisco Fabric Analyzer, an embedded Fibre Channel analyzer. Comprehensive port-based and flow-based statistics enable sophisticated performance analysis and service-level agreement (SLA) accounting.

Robust Security

Comprehensive framework protects your data

Addressing the need for failproof security in storage networks, the Cisco MDS 9000 Family 4 Gb/sec Fibre Channel switching modules offer an extensive security framework to protect highly sensitive data crossing today's enterprise networks. The Cisco 4 Gb/sec Fibre Channel switching modules employ intelligent packet inspection at the port level, including the application of ACLs for hardware enforcement of zones, VSANs, and advanced Port Security features.

Extensive zoning capabilities

Extended zoning capabilities are enabled to ensure that logical unit numbers (LUNs) are accessible only by specific hosts (LUN zoning), to limit SCSI read commands for a certain zone (read-only zoning), and to restrict broadcasts to only the selected zones (broadcast zones).

VSANs are used to achieve higher security and greater stability by providing complete isolation among devices that are connected to the same physical SAN. IVR enables controlled sharing of resources between VSANs. In addition, FC-SP provides switch-switch and host-switch Diffie-Hellman Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (DH-CHAP) authentication, supporting RADIUS or TACACS+ to help ensure that only authorized devices access protected storage networks.

Mainframe-Ready

Integrated support

Cisco 4 Gb/sec Fibre Channel switching modules are mainframe ready, with full support for IBM zSeries FICON and Linux environments. Qualified by IBM for attachment to all FICON-enabled devices in an IBM zSeries operating environment, Cisco 4 Gb/sec Fibre Channel switching modules support transport of the FICON protocol in both cascaded and noncascaded fabrics, as well as intermix of FICON and open systems Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP) traffic on the same switch.

VSANs increase utilization

VSANs simplify intermix of SAN resources between z/OS, mainframe Linux, and open systems environments, allowing for increased SAN utilization and simplified SAN management. VSAN-based intermix mode eliminates the uncertainty and instability often associated with zoning-based intermix techniques.

Reduce probability of misconfguration

VSANs also greatly reduce the probability of a misconfiguration or component failure in one VSAN affecting operation in other VSANs. VSAN-based management access control simplifies partitioning of SAN management responsibilities between mainframe and open systems environments, enhancing security.

FICON VSANs can be managed using the integrated Cisco Fabric Manager; the Cisco command-line interface (CLI); or IBM CUP-enabled management tools, including SA/390, Resource Measurement Facility (RMF), or Dynamic Channel Path Management (DCM).