Cisco Storage Area Networking

Score10 out of 10

7 Reviews and Ratings

What is Cisco Storage Area Networking?

The vendor states that the Cisco MDS 9000 multilayer SAN switches can help lower the total cost of ownership (TCO) of storage environments. They combine what the vendor describes as a robust, flexible hardware architecture with multiple layers of network and storage-management intelligence. With them, users can build highly available, scalable storage networks with advanced security and unified management.

Categories & Use Cases

Storage Area Network

Verified User

Professional in Information Technology (10,001+ employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use a mix of MDS 9248, and 9396 fabric switches to support FC SAN Fabrics. These [Cisco MDS 9000 Series Multilayer Switches] provide FC SAN Fabric to virtualized VMware environments and for bare-metal hosts running either Windows or Red Hat. The MDS's enable us to have a standard method of presenting FC fabric across the facility. We are currently visiting the implementation of [stretched] FC fabric through DWDM to replace FCIP replication between storage arrays.

Pros

Zoning
High MTBF
Buffer Credits

Cons

Centralized Management through DCNM
Cost (Port License Cost vs New Switch)
3rd Party SFP+ Compatibility
Smart Zoning (personally prefer SIMT)

Return on Investment

High MTBF
Stable hardened OS reducing the need for constant upgrades
NVMeOF Compatibility
High port density in relatively small footprint (with 9396)

Alternatives Considered

Extreme VCS Fabrics (formerly Brocade VCS Fabrics) and IBM SAN48B-5

Other Software Used

VMware vSphere, Cisco Intersight

Jon McDowell View profile

Server Administrator in Information Technology at Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union (201-500 employees employees)

Pros

Easy connectivity
Easy management
Good support for finding correct commands

Cons

Licensing
Lack of GUI

Return on Investment

No connection drops
Allowed easy management of the UCS Chassis
Allows fast data transfers

Alternatives Considered

Brocade ADX (Discontinued)

Verified User

Project Manager in Information Technology (1001-5000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Cisco Storage Area Networking in our organization to provide connectivity between our All Flash storage box and our SQL Servers. These servers require a low latency network to access their data located in our NVMe storage box. We have found that their capabilities are quite robust and the management effort in order to keep them updated are quite small. They haven't given us any issues or significant incidents with the technology, this gives complete peace of mind.

Pros

Provide low latency SAN access
Easy to configure configuration language
Great support from vendor
No loss of service when doing maintenance activities

Cons

User interface for certain configurations: some are hard to use or not intuitive
Enhanced analytics and reporting tools could provide deeper insights
Having more automation capabilities for routine tasks like firmware updates and host group management

Return on Investment

Enhanced reliability and minimized downtime.
Ensuring continuous data availability.
New business model that change CAPEX into OPEX with an evergreen equipment maintenance.

Other Software Used

VMware vSAN, Nutanix Unified Storage, Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365, Citrix DaaS, Citrix Endpoint Management, NetScaler Gateway, NetScaler ADC, DigiCert CertCentral, Akamai, Commvault Cloud powered by Metallic AI, VMware Cloud on AWS

INFINIDAT InfiniBox

Lenovo ThinkSystem DS Series

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Cisco Storage Area Networking

What is Cisco Storage Area Networking?

Categories & Use Cases

Reviews

MDS Switches Provide and Enterprise Class SAN Fabric for Demanding Workloads

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros

Cons

Return on Investment

Alternatives Considered

Other Software Used

Cisco MDS 9000 Series Multilayer Switches are consistent and reliable

Pros

Cons

Return on Investment

Alternatives Considered