Cisco, VMware Optimize Storage Network Services

Cisco is collaborating with VMware to deliver tested and validated solutions for Cisco (News - Alert) MDS storage area networks (SANs) as part of its Data Center 3.0 strategy. The solution is designed to enable customers to enhance security, scalability and management of storage networks in VMware environments.

 

The Cisco Data Center 3.0 will offer real-time, dynamic orchestration of infrastructure services from shared pools of virtualized server, storage and network resources, simultaneously optimizing application performance, service levels, efficiency and collaboration.

 

Virtual machines allow IT managers to run many applications and operating systems on a single physical machine. Data center virtualization offers a better computing model to meet customer needs with optimum resource use. Cisco MDS SANs with VMware’s Virtual Datacenter OS (VDC-OS) enable customers to implement services like storage consolidation, disaster recovery, business continuity and storage backup solutions, as well as improve the visibility, security, and traffic isolation of applications.

 

This functionality is offered by VMware as part of the VDC-OS. This increases ROI besides helping customers build data centers that are elastic, self-managing and self-healing. Cisco MDS SANs can be virtual machine-optimized to offer high-performance fabric to support large, dense virtual environments by providing consistent policy, visibility, and diagnostics for virtual machines in the data center.

 

“We have a complex virtual IT environment at Trinity Health, and we look to our key vendors such as VMware and Cisco to collaborate in simplifying and optimizing joint solutions so they work together to our best advantage,” said Mark Trancygier, storage architect at Trinity Health, in a statement. “Cisco MDS 9000 helps us to scale our virtual machine-attached SAN infrastructure, and this collaboration will help us further our goals to achieve an end-to-end virtualized storage environment.”

 

VMware optimizes Cisco SANs to offer security, mobility, performance monitoring and capacity planning at the virtual machine level. IT managers can monitor, manage and scale SAN-attached virtual machines. They can change servers without reconfiguring SAN switches or storage arrays. Servers will maintain their identity even if moved in the server chassis.

 

Cisco and VMware offer virtualization consulting services so that customers can create and deploy server, network and storage virtualization solutions cost effectively as new applications maintaining optimum application performance.

Shekar Ayyar, vice president of infrastructure alliances at VMware explained that VMware and Cisco leverage their experience in virtualization and networking to develop solutions and services that enable customers improve IT efficiency and increase business productivity.

 

The combination of VMware Infrastructure and VMware-optimized SANs, help customers utilize all SAN benefits while easily scaling their virtual environments. Customers can therefore accommodate growth and meet service levels cost-effectively.