Cisco MDS 9300 License

The next generation of the high performance, high density, and extremely reliable Cisco MDS Series Fabric switches is the MDS 9300 16G Multilayer Fabric Switch. It offers exceptional flexibility, cost efficiency, and high performance. It can scale from 48 to 96 line-rate 16-Gbps Fibre Channel ports on this robust, small 2-rack-unit (2RU) switch.

These are some great uses for the Cisco MDS 9300.

• A stand-alone SAN in sizable office storage environments.
• An edge switch in core-edge topologies for commercial data centers.
• A top-of-rack or middle-of-row switch used in medium-sized redundant fabrics.

Software from Cisco NX-OS and Cisco PrimeTM Data Center Network Manager (DCNM) power the Cisco MDS 9300. For dependable end-to-end connectivity, it offers sophisticated storage networking features and functions that are simple to manage and compatible with the entire Cisco MDS 9000 Family portfolio.

Cisco MDS 9300 key features license

Affordable High Performance and Flexibility

With dedicated 16 Gbps bandwidth for each port, the maximum number of auto sensing Fibre Channel ports that can operate at 2, 4, 8, 10, and 16 Gbps is 96. 48 or 96 enabled ports are included in the base switch model. The 12-port licensed Cisco MDS 9300 On-Demand Port Activation license enables configurations of 60, 72, 84, and 96 enabled ports on the 48-port base model, which can be upgraded as necessary. Only the Cisco MDS 9300 offers a 2RU compact form factor scaling from 48 to 96 high-performance Fibre Channel ports. A top-tier fabric switch is the Cisco MDS 9300 switch.

It is a great option for standalone small and midsize business (SMB) Fibre Channel networks because it provides more buffer-to-buffer credits than previous generation fabric switches and supports a much higher number of VSANs. The first generation of 2RU switches capable of NVMe over Fibre Channel is the 16-Gbps MDS 9300. It offers a versatile and scalable option for host connectivity when set up as an N Port virtualization (NPV) node or as an N-Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) core bridging multi-protocol Nexus NPV switches or legacy Fibre channel switches.

High-Availability Platform for Critical Deployments

The licensed Cisco MDS 9300 provides In-Service Software Upgrades (ISSU) in settings where downtime is intolerable. With the help of this feature, Cisco NX-OS Software can be updated while the Fibre Channel ports are active. PortChannels for InterSwitch Link (ISL) resiliency, F-port channeling for resiliency on uplinks from a Cisco MDS 9300 operating in N-Port Virtualization (NPV) mode, and dual redundant hot swappable power supplies and fan trays are all features of the Cisco MDS 9300. Performance and monitoring capabilities are improved thanks to new slow-port detection and recovery hardware.

Simplified Storage Management with Advanced Diagnostics

SAN plug-and-play features and built-in storage network management are available with the Cisco MDS 9300. Cisco Prime DCNM for SAN Essentials Edition, a centralized management tool, or a Command-Line Interface (CLI) are the only ways to access all features. The management of one or more switches and fabrics is made easier by Cisco DCNM task-based wizards. It oversees the entire path for virtual infrastructure, from the virtual machine and switch to the physical storage. In order to automate software image upgrades and configuration file installation on newly deployed switches, the Cisco MDS 9300 also supports Power On Auto Provisioning (POAP). For increased dependability, quicker issue resolution, and lower service costs, it also offers intelligent diagnostics, protocol decoding, network analysis tools, and Cisco Call Home.

Intelligent network services and sophisticated traffic management

For hardware-enforced, isolated environments within a physical fabric, the licensed Cisco MDS 9300 uses virtual SAN (VSAN) technology. It provides Access Control Lists (ACLs) for intelligent frame processing that is hardware-based. The Cisco MDS 9000 Family Enterprise Package, which is an option, includes advanced traffic management features like fabric wide quality of service (QoS) and Inter-VSAN Routing (IVR). To improve and more reliably provide a network service, QoS prioritizes application data traffic. By utilizing the well-known zoning concept, zone based QoS makes configuration and administration simpler. IVR enables resource sharing between VSANs while maintaining network security, reliability, scalability, or availability.

Network security framework

With the optional Cisco MDS 9000 Family Enterprise Package, a wide range of cutting-edge and potent security features and functions are accessible. It provides fabric-wide, per-VSAN role-based authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) services using TACACS, LDAP, RADIUS, and Microsoft Active Directory (AD). Additionally, it deploys Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) support for the VSAN fabric isolation, intelligent port-level packet inspection, Cisco Trustsec Link encryption, 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). Hardware enforced zoning, management access, and control-plane security are additional security features.