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Cisco MDS 9506 for IBM System Storage

Intelligent storage networking for IBM System Storage solutions



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Cisco MDS 9506 data sheet (70 KB)

Interoperability Matrix (134 KB)

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Highlights

  • Provides Fibre Channel throughput of up to 4 Gbps per port and up to 64 Gbps with each PortChannel Inter-Switch Link connection


  • Offers scalability from 12 to 192 Fibre Channel ports


  • Offers 10 Gbps ISL ports for inter-Data Center links over metro optical networks


  • Offers Gigabit Ethernet IP, GbE ports for iSCSI or FCIP connectivity over global networks


  • High-availability design with support for non-disruptive firmware upgrades


  • Includes Virtual SAN (VSAN) capability for SAN consolidation into virtual SAN islands on a single physical fabric


  • Enterprise, SAN Extension over IP, Mainframe and Storage Services Enabler and Fabric Manager Server Packages provide added intelligence and value The Cisco MDS 9506 Multilayer Director

High performance and manageability for SANs

The Cisco MDS 9506 for IBM System Storage™ supports 1, 2 and 4 Gbps Fibre Channel switch connectivity and intelligent network services to help improve the security, performance and manageability required to consolidate geographically dispersed storage devices into a large enterprise SAN.

Improved internal bandwidth for higher scalability

The Cisco MDS 9506 for IBM System Storage utilizes two Supervisor-2 Modules designed for high availability and performance. The Supervisor-2 Module combines an intelligent control module and a high-performance crossbar switch fabric in a single unit. It uses Fabric Shortest Path First (FSPF) multipath routing, which provides intelligence to load balance across a maximum of 16 equal-cost paths and to dynamically reroute traffic if a switch fails.

Each Supervisor-2 Module provides the necessary crossbar bandwidth to deliver full system performance in the Cisco MDS 9506 director with up to four Fibre Channel switching modules. It is designed to eliminate the impact on system performance of the loss or removal of a single crossbar module.

Common features Hardware summary
  • Virtual SAN (VSAN) capability for SAN consolidation
  • High-availability design with non-disruptive firmware upgrades
  • Fabric Shortest Path First (FSPF) multipath routing
  • Enterprise, SAN Extension over IP, Mainframe, Storage Services Enabler and Fabric Manager Server Packages provide added intelligence and value
  • 12 to 192 Fibre Channel ports
  • 1, 2 and 4 Gbps autosensing ports
  • Intelligent control module
  • High performance crossbar switch fabric
  • 10 Gbps ISL ports for inter-data center links over metro optical networks
  • Offers Gigabit Ethernet IP, GbE ports for iSCSI or FCIP connectivity over global networks


 
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