Cisco Cisco MDS 9000 NX-OS Software Release 4.1 Data Sheet
Data Sheet
© 2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information.
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Users can create administrator roles that are limited in scope to certain VSANs. For example, a
network administrator role can be set up to allow configuration of all platform-specific capabilities,
while other roles can be set up to allow configuration and management only within specific VSANs.
This approach improves the manageability of large SANs and reduces disruptions due to human
error by isolating the effect of a user’s action to a specific VSAN whose membership can be
assigned based on switch ports or the worldwide name (WWN) of attached devices.
VSANs are supported across FCIP links between SANs, extending VSANs to include devices at a
remote location. The Cisco MDS 9000 family also implements trunking for VSANs. Trunking allows
Inter-Switch Links (ISLs) to carry traffic for multiple VSANs on the same physical link.
Inter-VSAN Routing
Data traffic can be transported between specific initiators and targets on different VSANs using
inter-VSAN routing (IVR) without merging VSANs into a single logical fabric. Fibre Channel control
traffic does not flow between VSANs, nor can initiators access any resources aside from the ones
designated with IVR. Valuable resources such as tape libraries can be easily shared without
compromise. IVR also can be used in conjunction with FCIP to create more efficient business-
continuity and disaster-recovery solutions.
Intelligent Fabric Applications
Cisco NX-OS Software forms a solid foundation for delivering network-based storage applications
and services such as virtualization, snapshots, continuous data protection, data migration, and
replication on Cisco MDS 9000 family switches. The Fabric Application Interface Standard (FAIS)–
based API and the SANTap protocol accommodates numerous partner applications. The Cisco
MDS 9000 family intelligent fabric applications take advantage of all Fibre Channel features and
services offered by Cisco NX-OS Software, simplifying security, diagnostics, and management.
Network-Hosted Applications
The Cisco MDS 9000 family network-hosted storage applications architecture overcomes inherent
bottlenecks associated with other virtualization architectures. Performance can be easily scaled to
levels required by the largest organizations. Because Cisco MDS 9000 family network-hosted
storage applications are switch based, any host can access any virtual volume in the fabric,
independent of the host’s attachment point in the SAN. A single point of management, transparent
data mobility and migration, improved storage use, and a single set of copy services across
heterogeneous storage capabilities are supported for Cisco MDS 9000 family network-hosted
applications.
Network-Assisted Applications
Cisco MDS 9000 family network-assisted storage applications offer deployment flexibility and
investment protection by allowing appliance-based storage applications for any server or storage
device in the SAN without rewiring. Easy insertion and provisioning of appliance-based storage
applications are achieved by moving the appliance out of the primary I/O between servers and
storage. Also, host-side agents are reduced or eliminated, simplifying heterogeneous OS support.
The SANTap protocol allows appliances to get an I/O copy for data replication, continuous data
protection, and data migration without affecting the integrity, availability, and performance of the
primary I/O between servers and storage. Cisco MDS 9000 family network-assisted storage
applications with SANTap provide highly scalable solutions that allow efficient workload distribution
to multiple appliances based on the application and source-and-target combinations.