Cisco expands storage horizons

Storage in the Enterprise This newsletter is sponsored by NetApp BEYOND BACKUP: DISK-TO-DISK BACKUP COMES OF AGE Assessing the wide array of D2D options can be daunting. In this paper, we compare disk backup solutions and offer guidance for evaluating the different types of advanced data protection solutions and provide guidance for identifying the solutions that will meet your needs. Network World's Storage in the Enterprise Newsletter, 07/26/07 Cisco expands storage horizons By Deni Connor Cisco this week is doing its best to dominate the storage-area networking market currently held by Brocade. The company introduced three new SAN products and a new version of its operating systems at its Networkers at Cisco Live conference in Anaheim, Calif. Cisco introduced SAN-OS 3.2, an operating environment for its multiprotocol SAN switches that includes encryption of data on disks and tapes, migration of data across heterogeneous arrays and support for simplified blade server management, as well as 4Gbps Fibre Channel connectivity. Manage Skyrocketing Storage The data on your network is growing at a rapid pace that's only going to increase. Download Network World's latest Executive Guide and get the practical, real-world advice and insider information you need to best manage and meet your storage demands and industry regulations. Click here to download. The company also unveiled three hardware products: the MDS 9222i Multiservice Modular Switch, the MDS 18/4-Port Multiservice Module and the MDS 9134 Multilayer Fabric Switch. Encryption and data migration are enabled on the MDS 9222i and MDS 18/4. Both the MDS 9222i switch and the MDS 18/4 blade provide Fibre Channel, FICON, Fibre Channel over IP (FCIP) and iSCSI support. Further, they each supply 18 4Gbps Fibre Channel ports and four 1Gbps Ethernet IP Storage Services ports. SAN routing is enabled on each port. In addition, both support hardware-based FCIP compression and IPsec encryption for both disk and tape. They also support IPv6 and are FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) certified. Both use AES256 encryption. The Data Mobility Manager, which runs on the MDS9222i and MDS 18/4, migrates data between storage arrays for storage consolidation, tiering, technology refreshes and workload balancing. It support heterogeneous arrays and is non-disruptive. A command line interface and a wizard help the customer manage migrations. The MDS 9134 is a 32-port 4Gbps Fibre Channel switch with two 10Gbps Fibre Channel ports for connecting to other switches. It is available in a 1U (1.75-inch) form factor and supports stacking of two switches for higher density. The N-Port Virtualizer (NPV) capability allows a blade switch operating as a Fibre Channel switch to act as virtual host bus adapter to servers. It reduces the number of domain IDs necessary and is available for IBM and HP blade switches and MDS 9124 and 9134 Fabric switches. NPV is similar to Emulex’ and QLogic’ N-Port Virtualization – those two alternatives run on the host bus adapter; Cisco’s NPV runs on a switch or module.   What do you think? Post a comment on this newsletter

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Contact the author: Deni Connor is senior editor for Network World magazine covering storage, archiving and compliance, IT in healthcare, Novell and data center-related issues. E-mail Deni.   This newsletter is sponsored by NetApp BEYOND BACKUP: DISK-TO-DISK BACKUP COMES OF AGE Assessing the wide array of D2D options can be daunting. In this paper, we compare disk backup solutions and offer guidance for evaluating the different types of advanced data protection solutions and provide guidance for identifying the solutions that will meet your needs. ARCHIVE Archive of the Storage in the Enterprise Newsletter. BONUS FEATURE IT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered to your inbox each day. Extend your knowledge with a print subscription to the Network World newsweekly, Apply here today. International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: networking.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007