Cisco on Thursday rolled out a series of storage area networking systems designed to challenge Brocade.
The networking giant is rolling out multi-protocol storage networking systems with a new fabric switch, support for 40GB converged Ethernet on Cisco's Nexus switches and improvements to its management and monitoring software.
Nitan Garg, senior manager for Cisco product management, said that the multi-protocol approach is designed to better connect storage networking gear to everything from mainframes to servers. Garg also noted that enterprise data centers are using multiple architecture approaches as they roll out private clouds.
Among the rollouts.
- Cisco's MDS 9396S Fabric Switch adds to the company's 16GB Fibre Channel switch lineup. It includes a 96-port high-density 16GB line rate and is designed for SMBs as well as enterprises. The switch will be available in June. Cisco is arguing that its fabric switch will cost anywhere from 4 percent to 19 percent less than Brocade's 6520.
- 40GB Converged Ethernet support across Cisco's Nexus 7700 and 7000 systems. Cisco is aiming to allow customers to mix and match its switches, routers and servers. The converged Ethernet support will be available in June.
- Updates to Cisco's storage area networking software to offer better visibility and give admins tools to improve redundancy and avoid network congestion.
Source: http://www.zdnet.com/article/cisco-rolls-out-storage-networking-gear-updates-eyes-brocade/
