Cisco MDS 9700 Series 64Gbps Ready Directors

The Cisco MDS 9700 Multilayer Director switches have a modular architecture. In this architecture is the flexibility of different numbers of slots for the linecards, fabric modules, and supervisor modules. Figure 10-25 illustrates the Cisco MDS 9700 models and major modules and benefits.

  

Figure 10-25 Cisco MDS 9700 Series Director Switches

The family of the Cisco MDS 9700 directors, shown in Figure 10-26, includes the following platforms:

  

Figure 10-26 Linecard Options and Scalability per Cisco MDS 9700 Director Chassis

• Cisco MDS 9718 is an 18-slot chassis with 16 linecard slots and up to 16 power supplies. It’s the biggest one, occupying 26RU.
• Cisco MDS 9710 is a 10-slot chassis with eight linecard slots and up to eight power supplies. The middle-sized chassis is 14RU.
• Cisco MDS 9706 is a six-slot chassis with four linecard slots and up to four power supplies. It is 9RU.

Each of the director chassis supports up to two Supervisor modules. These modules support the management and control planes or provide the management and processes needed for the switches’ operation. Using two supervisors provides redundancy.

In the Cisco MDS 9700 Directors, the physical switching of the frames happens in the crossbar fabric modules, also called just “fabric” modules. Each of the chassis has six slots for fabric modules. Depending on the needs, there can be a different number of fabrics installed in these slots, thus controlling the switching capacities. The minimum number of fabric modules per chassis is three for the purposes of supporting a minimum redundant configuration.

The linecards are line rate and support 48′ 32Gbps or 48′ 16Gbps FC ports, 48′ 10Gbps FCoE ports, or 24′ 40Gbps FCoE ports.

Cisco MDS 9000 Series 32Gbps Fabric Switches

Here’s a list of the Cisco MDS 32Gbps switches (see Figure 10-27):

  

Figure 10-27 Cisco MDS 9000 Series 32Gbps Fabric Switches

• Cisco MDS 9132T: 16′ fixed FC ports operating at speeds of 4/8/16/32Gbps and a slot for an additional module, which adds another 16 FC ports operating at the same speeds
• Cisco MDS 9148T: 48′ fixed FC ports operating at speeds of 4/8/16/32Gbps
• Cisco MDS 9396T: 96′ fixed FC ports operating at speeds of 4/8/16/32Gbps

All of these 32Gbps Fabric Cisco MDS switches support the following features:

• Integrated hardware-based SAN Analytics
• Autozone feature
• NVMe/FC ready
• Virtual machine awareness
• Extended BB_Credits (up to 8270 per port or 8300 per port group)
• Native on-switch REST API and Python interpreter
• FC Trustsec Link encryption
• Power-On Auto Provisioning (POAP) and intelligent diagnostics
• Cisco In-Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) and Downgrade (ISSD)
• Redundant hot-swappable power supplies and fan trays
• Anti-counterfeit technology with secure boot
• Multiple power supplies
• Multiple fans for cooling