Cisco Cisco MDS 9000 NX-OS Software Release 4.1 Scheda Tecnica
Data Sheet
© 2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information.
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Cisco MDS 9000 NX-OS Software 4.1(1)
Product Overview
Cisco
®
NX-OS Software is the underlying system software that powers the award-winning Cisco
MDS 9000 family multilayer switches. Cisco NX-OS Software is designed for data center switches
to create a strategic platform with superior reliability, performance, scalability, and features.
In addition to providing all the essential features that the market expects of a storage area network
(SAN) switch, Cisco NX-OS Software provides many unique features that help the Cisco MDS
9000 family deliver low total cost of ownership (TCO) and a quick return on investment (ROI).
Flexibility and Scalability
Cisco NX-OS Software is a highly flexible and scalable platform for enterprise SANs.
Common Software Across All Platforms
Cisco NX-OS Software runs on all Cisco MDS 9000 family switches, from multilayer fabric switches
to multilayer directors. Using the same base system software across the entire product line helps
Cisco provide an extensive, consistent, and compatible feature set across the Cisco MDS 9000
family.
Multiprotocol Support
In addition to supporting Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP), Cisco NX-OS Software supports IBM Fibre
Connection (FICON), Small Computer System Interface over IP (iSCSI), and Fibre Channel over IP
(FCIP) in a single platform. Native iSCSI support in the Cisco MDS 9000 family helps customers
consolidate storage for a wide range of servers into a common pool on the SAN. Native FCIP
support allows customers to take advantage of their existing investment in IP networks for cost-
effective business-continuance solutions for both Fibre Channel and FICON environments. With
Cisco NX-OS Software multiprotocol support, customers can better use their enterprise resources,
thereby lowering costs.
Virtual SANs
Virtual SAN (VSAN) technology partitions a single physical SAN into multiple VSANs. The Cisco
MDS 9000 family switches are the first SAN switches on the market with VSAN support built into
the switch hardware. VSAN capabilities allow Cisco NX-OS Software to logically divide a large
physical fabric into separate, isolated environments to improve Fibre Channel SAN scalability,
availability, manageability, and network security. For FICON, VSANs facilitate true hardware-based
separation of FICON and open systems.
Each VSAN is a logically and functionally separate SAN with its own set of Fibre Channel fabric
services. This partitioning of fabric services greatly reduces network instability by containing fabric
reconfigurations and error conditions within an individual VSAN. The strict traffic segregation
provided by VSANs helps ensure that the control and data traffic of a given VSAN are confined
within the VSAN’s own domain, increasing SAN security. VSANs help reduce costs by facilitating
consolidation of isolated SAN islands into a common infrastructure without compromising
availability.