Cisco MDS 9148S 16G Multilayer Fabric Switch for IBM System Storage
IBM Redbooks Product Guide
Published 23 February 2015
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Authors: Megan Gilge
Abstract
This IBM® Redbooks® Product Guide describes the Cisco MDS 9148S 16G Multilayer Fabric Switch for IBM System Storage® (MDS 9148S). The MDS 9148S is the latest generation of the highly reliable, flexible, and low-cost Cisco MDS 9100 Series switches. It combines high performance with exceptional flexibility and cost-effectiveness. This powerful, compact one rack-unit (1RU) switch scales from 12 to 48 line-rate 16 Gbps Fibre Channel ports.
Contents
This IBM® Redbooks® Product Guide describes the Cisco MDS 9148S 16G Multilayer Fabric Switch for IBM System Storage® (MDS 9148S). The MDS 9148S is the latest generation of the highly reliable, flexible, and low-cost Cisco MDS 9100 Series switches. It combines high performance with exceptional flexibility and cost effectiveness. This powerful, compact one rack-unit (1RU) switch scales from 12 to 48 line-rate 16 Gbps Fibre Channel ports.
The MDS 9148S is excellent for the following situations:
- A stand-alone SAN in small departmental storage environments
- A top-of-the-rack switch in medium-sized redundant fabrics
- An edge switch in enterprise data center core-edge topologies
The MDS 9148S is powered by Cisco NX-OS Software and Cisco Data Center Network Manager (DCNM) software. It delivers advanced storage networking features and functions with ease of management and compatibility with the entire Cisco MDS 9000 Family portfolio for reliable end-to-end connectivity.
Figure 1 shows the MDS 9148S.
Figure 1. MDS 9148S
Did you know?
- Up to 48 autosensing Fibre Channel ports are capable of speeds of 2, 4, 8, and 16 Gbps, with 16 Gbps of dedicated bandwidth for each port.
- The MDS 9148S offers built-in storage network management and SAN plug-and-play capabilities.
- An extensive set of innovative and powerful security features and functions is available with the optional Cisco MDS 9100 Enterprise Package.
Product highlights
The MDS 9148S has the following highlights.
High performance and outstanding flexibility at low cost
Up to 48 autosensing Fibre Channel ports are capable of speeds of 2, 4, 8, and 16 Gbps, with 16 Gbps of dedicated bandwidth for each port. The base switch comes with 12 enabled ports. Upgrade it with additional ports by adding one or more 12-port MDS 9148S 12-port On-Demand activation licenses. The MDS 9148S scales from 12 to 48 high-performance Fibre Channel ports in a single 1RU form factor.
High-availability platform for mission-critical deployments
In environments in which downtime is intolerable, the MDS 9148S offers In-Service Software Upgrades (ISSU), which means that Cisco NX-OS Software can be upgraded while the Fibre Channel ports carry traffic. The MDS 9148S includes dual redundant hot-swappable power supplies and fan trays, PortChannels for Inter-Switch Link (ISL) resiliency, and F-port channeling for resiliency on uplinks from an MDS 9148S operating in NPV mode. New hardware-based slow port detection and mitigation provide enhanced performance and monitoring capabilities.
Simplified storage management with sophisticated diagnostic tests
The MDS 9148S offers built-in storage network management and SAN plug-and-play capabilities. All features are available through a command-line interface (CLI) or Cisco DCNM for SAN, which is a centralized management tool. DCNM task-based wizards simplify management of single or multiple switches and fabrics. For virtual infrastructure, it manages the entire path from the virtual machine and switch to the physical storage. The MDS 9148S also supports PowerOn Auto Provisioning (POAP) to automate software image upgrades and configuration file installation on newly deployed switches. Additionally, it provides intelligent diagnostic tests, protocol decoding, network analysis tools, and Cisco Call Home for added reliability, faster problem resolution, and reduced service costs.
Intelligent network services and advanced traffic management
The MDS 9148S uses virtual SAN (VSAN) technology for hardware-enforced, isolated environments within a physical fabric. It offers access control lists (ACLs) for hardware-based, intelligent frame processing. Advanced traffic management features, such as fabric-wide quality of service (QoS) and Inter-VSAN Routing (IVR), are included in the optional Cisco MDS 9100 Enterprise Package. QoS prioritizes application data traffic for better and more predictable network service. Zone-based QoS simplifies configuration and administration by using the familiar zoning concept. IVR facilitates resource sharing across VSANs without compromising scalability, reliability, availability, and network security.
Comprehensive network security framework
An extensive set of innovative and powerful security features and functions is available with the optional Cisco MDS 9100 Enterprise Package. It offers fabric-wide, Inter VSAN Routing (IVR), per-VSAN role-based authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) services that use RADIUS, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), Microsoft Active Directory (AD), and TACACS+. It also deploys VSAN fabric isolation, intelligent, port-level packet inspection, Fibre Channel Security Protocol (FC-SP) host-to-switch and switch-to-switch authentication, Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), Secure Shell Version 2 (SSHv2), and Simple Network Management Protocol Version 3 (SNMPv3) implementing Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). Other security features include control-plane security, hardware-enforced zoning, broadcast zones, and management access. The Cisco 9148S is FIPS 140-2 compliant as mandated by the US federal government.
Architecture and key components
Table 1 summarizes the main features and benefits of the MDS 9148S.
Table 1. Main features and benefits of the MDS 9148S
Feature | Benefit |
Common software across all platforms | Reduces total cost of ownership (TCO) by using Cisco NX-OS and Cisco DCNM for consistent provisioning, management, and diagnostic capabilities across the fabric. |
PowerOn Auto Provisioning | Automates deployment and upgrade of software images. |
Smart zoning | Reduces consumption of hardware resources and the administrative time that is needed to create and manage zones. |
Intelligent diagnostic tests and hardware-based slow port detection | Enhances reliability, speeds problem resolution, and reduces service costs by using Fibre Channel ping and traceroute to identify exact path and timing of flows, and Cisco Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN) and Remote SPAN (RSPAN) and Cisco Fabric Analyzer to capture and analyze network traffic. |
Virtual output queuing | Helps ensure line-rate performance on each port by eliminating head-of-line blocking. |
High-performance ISLs | Optimizes bandwidth utilization by aggregating up to 16 physical ISLs into a single logical PortChannel bundle with multipath load balancing. |
In-Service Software Upgrades | Reduces downtime for planned maintenance and software upgrades. |
Licensing
Table 2 describes the optional licenses that can be purchased to enable additional features and capabilities on the MDS 9148S.
Table 2. Optional licenses
License | Benefit |
Cisco MDS 9100 Enterprise Package (FC 7210) | Includes advanced traffic-engineering and network security features, such as IVR, QoS and zone-based QoS, Fibre Channel Security Protocol (FC-SP), port security, VSAN-based access control, and fabric binding for open systems. Licensed per switch for all the ports on the switch. |
MDS 9100 DCNM Advanced Edition (FC 7211) | Includes advanced management capabilities, such as vCenter integration, performance trending, advanced provisioning, backup, and dashboards. Licensed per switch for all the ports on the switch. License is hosted on a server. |
MDS 9148S 12-port On-Demand (FC 7212) | Enables 12 additional Fibre Channel ports (up to 48 total ports on the switch). |
Specifications
Table 3 lists the specifications for the MDS 9148S.
Table 3. Product specifications for the MDS 9148S
Feature | Description |
Protocols |
|
| |
Ports |
|
Performance |
|
Reliability and availability |
|
Network management |
|
Programming interfaces |
|
Fabric services |
|
Advanced functions |
|
Supported optics, media, and transmission distances | For detailed information about all supported transceivers, see http://bit.ly/1ygSf9K |
Approvals and compliance |
|
System requirements
The Cisco MDS 9000 NX-OS Software Release 6.2(9) or later, which supports MDS 9148S and DCNM, is required.
Physical and electrical specifications
Table 4 lists the physical and electrical specifications for the MDS 9148S.
Table 4. Physical and electrical specifications for the MDS 9148S
Feature | Description |
Physical dimensions (H x W x D) |
|
Power |
|
Temperature range |
|
Related publications and links
For more information, see the following documents:
- IBM Support Fix Central support site (select a product from drop-down menus)
http://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/
- IBM System Storage Interoperation Center (SSIC)
http://www.ibm.com/systems/support/storage/ssic/interoperability.wss
- Cisco MDS 9148S 16G Multilayer Fabric Switch for IBM System Storage
http://www.ibm.com/systems/storage/san/ctype/9148S
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Special Notices
This material has not been submitted to any formal IBM test and is published AS IS. It has not been the subject of rigorous review. IBM assumes no responsibility for its accuracy or completeness. The use of this information or the implementation of any of these techniques is a client responsibility and depends upon the client's ability to evaluate and integrate them into the client's operational environment.