Cisco Intros Data Center 3.0 Technology for Storage Area Networks

In a bid to expand its Data Center 3.0 product portfolio, Cisco (News - Alert) has introduced a new storage area network (SAN) technology designed to help customers improve performance and scalability, simplify SAN management, increase data security, and enhance SAN services in Virtual Machine (VM) environments.

 

These new technologies support Cisco's vision to help its customers to design and build next-generation data centers. The Cisco vision for Data Center 3.0 entails the real-time, dynamic orchestration of infrastructure services from shared pools of virtualized server, storage and network resources, while optimizing application performance, service levels, efficiency and collaboration.

 

The new Cisco SAN technology includes three Cisco MDS 9000 Family 8Gbps Fibre Channel switching modules and new capabilities in Cisco's SAN operating system, which has been re-branded as NX-OS. These new SAN capabilities, combined with Cisco's data center-class MDS and Nexus platforms, will help IT managers evolve towards a single operating system and a unified data center fabric, simplifying data center management and reducing costs.

 

"The new Cisco 8Gbps switch modules are attractive because they can be used in any combination to increase port density and performance as needed, inserting them into an existing Cisco 9500 chassis without having to do a major upgrade," said Brian Perlstein, technical architect at Oakwood Healthcare System. "As an early adopter of Cisco's SAN technology, we've come to really appreciate that kind of investment protection."

 

Cisco will also introduce three new 8Gbps Fibre Channel SAN switch modules designed to provide high performance, scalability, SAN design flexibility, investment protection, and cost effectiveness. Because the new Cisco switching modules are compatible with all Cisco MDS 9500 Series Multilayer Directors, SAN administrators can help protect their existing investments in 2Gbps and 4Gbps storage infrastructure and gradually phase in 8Gbps technology as their network demands it.

 

By combining Cisco 24-Port, 48-Port, and 4/44-Port switching modules in a single, modular chassis, SAN managers can design storage networks optimized for cost and performance in a wide range of application environments. This application-optimized approach helps reduce the number of switches and Inter-Switch Links (ISLs) required in a storage network, helping to simplify SAN management and reduce costs.

 

The new modules also address growing enterprise security and compliance requirements by delivering transparent, hardware-based, line-rate encryption of Fibre Channel data in motion between any Cisco MDS 9000 family 8Gbps modules. Cisco TrustSec Fibre Channel (CTS (News - Alert)-FC) helps preserve the integrity and confidentiality of Fibre Channel traffic between Cisco MDS 9000 family modular switches within a data center or across metro area networks.

 

The new Cisco modules include Cisco 24-Port 8-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module designed for demanding storage networking environments, Cisco 48-Port 8Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module and Cisco 4/44-Port 8Gbps Host-Optimized Fibre Channel Switching Module.