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SG Lab Validation Report

ESG Lab

Validation Report

Cisco MDS 9124 Fabric

Switch

A validation study

by

ESG LabNNoovveemmbbeerr22000066

Authors:

Tony Palmer, Brian Garrett, Bob Laliberte

Copyright©2006,EnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.AllRightsReserved

™

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EnterpriseStrategyGroup2


Table of Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................... 3

ESG Lab Validation....................................................................................................... 6

GettingStarted .......................................................................................................................................... 6

EaseofImplementation ............................................................................................................................7 Scalability/InvestmentProtection............................................................................................................9 ScalingtoEnterprise-Class .................................................................................................................... 10

Connectivity ............................................................................................................................................ 12 Serviceability/Availability ........................................................................................................................ 14

Security ................................................................................................................................................... 16 Performance/TrafficManagement ..........................................................................................................17

ESG Lab Validation Highlights .................................................................................... 20

Issues to Consider ...................................................................................................... 20

ESG Lab View............................................................................................................. 20

Appendix..................................................................................................................... 21

All trademark namesare property of their respective companies. Information contained in this publicationhas been obtainedby sources TheEnterpriseStrategyGroup(ESG)considerstobereliablebutisnotwarrantedbyESG.ThispublicationmaycontainopinionsofESG,whicharesubjecttochangefromtimetotime.ThispublicationiscopyrightedbyTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.Anyreproductionorredistributionofthispublication,inwholeorinpart,whetherinhard-copyformat,electronically,orotherwisetopersonsnotauthorizedtoreceiveit,withouttheexpressconsentoftheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.,isin violationofU.S. Copyrightlawandwillbe subjectto anactionforcivildamagesand,ifapplicable,criminalprosecution. Shouldyouhaveanyquestions,pleasecontactESGClientRelationsat(508)482.0188.

ESG Validation Reports

ThegoaloftheESGLabValidationreportsistoeducatecustomersaboutspecificstorage-relatedproductsincludingstorage systems,backup-to-disksolutions,storagemanagement applications, backup/recovery software,storagevirtualizationplatforms,etc. TheESGLabreportsarenotmeanttoreplacethenecessaryevaluationprocessthatendusercustomersshouldconduct.TheESGLabreportsaredesignedtoprovideinsighttowhatiscompellingaboutvariousproductsandhowtheycansolvecustomerproblems.ESGLabreportsalsorecommendareaswefeelthevendorshouldimproveupon.ESGLabprovidesthird-partyexpertperspectivebasedonourownhands-ontestinginalabandinterviewswithcustomersusingtheseproductsinproductionenvironments.

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Introduction

Ciscohas introduced the SAN-OS basedMDS 9124 FibreChannel Switch asanentry-leveleasy-to-usefabricswitchwithenterprise-classcapabilitiesatanaffordableprice.TheMDS9124combinesthefield-testedand reliable operating system used in Cisco’s MDS 9000 director line with a new wizard for simplifiedconfigurationandapay-as-you-growlicensingmodelsupportingupto24line-rateportsofaffordable4Gbps

Storage Area Network (SAN) connectivity. This report provides independent third party validation of thefeatures,performanceandusabilityoftheMDS9124.Facedwith explodingdatagrowthandaneedto betterprotectandmanageshared informationassets, ITmanagersareincreasinglyturningtoasharedstorageapproachusingSANtechnology.AnESGResearchsurvey of 202 ITmanagers within companies with 1,000 employees or less revealed that organizationsmovingfromdirectattachedstoragetoasharedSANapproachhaverealizedsignificantbenefits.

1

Figure One: ESG Research - SMB SAN Benefits

Improve Data Availability

Fifty-sixpercentofsurveyrespondentsreportthattheyhaveimproveddataavailabilitybyusingaSANforshared storage. Data availability is improved using storage arrays supporting the latest fault tolerancecapabilitiesincludingRAIDalgorithmswhichtransparentlyridethroughharddrivefailuresandsharedstoragenetworkswhichcanbeconfiguredforhighavailability.Centralize Backup and Recovery

OneofthebestreasonsfordeployingaSANissharedaccesstoatapelibraryordisk-basedbackupdevice.Insteadofbackingupserversusingatapedrivewithineachserver,orbackingupserversovertheLAN,ashared backup device accessed through a Fibre Channel SAN can be used for centralized backup andrecovery.

1 ESG Research Snapshot Study: SMB SAN Trends, June, 2004.

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Improve Storage Utilization

Administratorsdeployingapplicationsoninternalordirectattachedstoragetypicallyerronthesideofcautionandbuymorestoragecapacitythanisneededforeachserver.Theresultingpoorutilizationisdueinparttothepainofaddinganewharddrivewhenanapplicationrunsoutofcapacity.AsharedpoolofSAN-attachedstoragemakesiteasiertodeploytherightamountofstoragecapacity,attherighttime,withlessdisruptiontoapplications.

Reduce Backup and Recovery Times

Thisbenefitgoeshandinhandwiththecentralizedbackupandrecoverybenefitdiscussedabove.BackuptrafficrunningoverasharedSANusingFibreChannelinterfaceswhichrunatspeedsofupto4Gbpscanprovideadramaticimprovementinbackupandrecoveryperformance-especiallywhencomparedtorunningbackupsoveracorporateEthernetLANrunningat100Mbpsor1Gbps.FibreChannel SANs have been embraced by large enterprises as the preferred method for fulfilling thestorageneedsofperformance-sensitive,mission-criticalapplications.ThebenefitsseenintheenterprisearesimilartothoseshownforsmalltomediumsizedbusinessesinFigureOne-improvedutilization,centralizedmanagementandimprovedbackupandrecoveryperformance.HundredsofthousandsofSANshavebeendeployedwithinlargeenterprisesinthepasttenyears,yetthepotentialisformillionsconsideringthestorageneedsof the smalltomediumsizedbusinesses.Sowhyaren’tmoresmallandmediumsizedbusinesses

deployingSANs?

Figure Two: ESG Research - SMB SAN Requirements

FigureTwoindicatestherelativeimportanceofbuyingcriteriareportedbyITmanagersincompaniesof1,000employees or less. Considering the benefits reported byearly adoptersshown inFigure One, it is notsurprisingtofindthatperformanceandhighavailabilityareconsideredrequisitebyITmanagersmovingfromdirect attached storage to SAN-attached storage. A shared resource being deployed to centralize andimprovebackupandrecoveryperformanceneedstobefastandinordertoimprovedataavailabilityasharedSANmustbehighlyavailable.Moreinterestingistheneedforscalabilityandeaseofimplementationatalowacquisitioncost.ESGhasspokenwithanumberofITmanagersinsmalltomediumsizedbusinessesthatwouldlovetoimplementaSAN,butareconcernedaboutthehighcostandcomplexityofSANsolutionsthat

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havebeenavailableinthemarketuntilnow.Andshouldtheygetpastthecostandcomplexityissues,thesepotentialSANadoptersneedtobereassuredthattheirstoragenetworkcanscaletomeetfutureneeds.Theneedsofstorageprofessionalsinenterprise-classdatacentersareinmanywayssimilartothoseinsmalltomediumsizedbusinesses.Performance,scalabilityandhighavailabilityarerequisite.Costofacquisitionisaconcern,butlesssowithinthecoreofthedatacenter.Reducedcostismoreimportantattheedgeoftheir

existingstoragenetwork. Insteadofpluggingsecondtierapplicationserversintothecoreofthenetwork,amoreaffordableSANconnectivitysolutionfortheserversoutsidethecurrentreachofthecorporateSANisneeded.Improvedeaseofusehelpsimprovetheproductivityasinsmallbusinesses,butjustasimportantistheabilitytoleverageexistingskills.ThesestorageprofessionalswouldlikeaSANswitchattheedgeofanenterprise-classSANnetworkthathasthesamefeaturesanduserinterfaceastheswitchesinthecoreofthedatacenter.

Figure Three: The Cisco MDS 9124 Fabric Switch

TheCiscoMDS9124 isa full featured4-Gbps fabric switch aimedsquarelyat the needsof the small tomediumsizedbusinessthatisequallywellsuitedfordepartmentalorremoteofficedeploymentinthelargestenterprise-classenvironments.Usingasinglechipdesignthatsupportsupto24portsofnon-blocking4Gbpsbandwidthperport,anentry-levelMDS9124witheightportsenabledandredundantpowersupplieshasa

veryaffordableentry-levelprice.Software-enabledportupgradesareofferedineight-portincrements.Additionalportsandpowersuppliescanbeaddedonline.Anewtwo-stepwizardhasbeenaddedtosimplifyandaccelerateinitialSANconfiguration.The MDS 9124 supports enterprise-class features including VSANs, non-disruptive code loads and dualpowersupplies.QualityofService,PortChannelingandadvancedsecurity featuresareimplementedusingthesameSAN-OSoperatingsystemandmanagementinterfacesasCisco’senterprise-classdirectorproductline.The goalofESGLab testingoftheCisco 9124was tovalidate the fundamentals ofSANfabricswitchingincludingeaseofuse,performance,reliability,securityandserviceability.ESGLabfoundthatthe9124isarock-solid,feature-richdevicethatcanbeusedtodeliverthebenefitsofSAN-attachedconnectivitytosmallandmediumsizedbusinessesandtoenterpriseslookingforcosteffectiveedgeconnectivity.

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ESG Lab Validation

ESGLabperformedhands-onevaluationandtestingoftheCiscoMDS9124FabricSwitchatCisco’sSanJose Campus. Testing was designed to evaluate ease of implementation and management, scalability,performanceandinteroperabilitywithenterpriseSANs.

Getting Started

Figure Four shows a transition from Direct Attached Storage (DAS) to a Storage Area Network (SAN)environmentforatypicalthreeserverconfigurationinasmallbusiness.Notethateachserverhasitsowndedicatedstoragefortheoperatingsystem,applicationsanddataintheDASconfigurationontheleft.Theright sideofFigureFourshowsa basic entry-levelSANconfiguration.ServerswithFCHostBusAdapters(HBAs)areattachedtosharedstoragearrayandatapelibrarythroughaFCswitch.

Figure Four: Getting Started

Note thateach individual server onthe left requiresenough disk tosupport the operating systemandthe

applications, while the shared storage arrayon the right actually requires less storage capacity than thecombinedtotal oftheoriginalservers. Thisworksbecauseeachapplication isallocatedonly the storagecapacityitneedsfromthesharedpool.MovingfromDAStoSANdeliversthefollowingbenefits: Manageability-Theabilitytodynamicallyallocatestoragefromthecommonpool Serviceability-Serverreplacementwithnodatamigration Consolidation-Shareddiskarrayandtapeinfrastructure DataProtection–Arraybaseddataprotectionandcopyservices HighAvailability-Multi-pathaccesstofaulttolerantstorage

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Ease of Implementation

ESG Lab began testingwitha focusoneaseof installation and configuration. ApreconfiguredWindowsserver with QLogic FibreChannel Host Bus Adapters (HBAs) and a storage arraywith volumes alreadycreatedwasprovidedbyCiscoforthisstageoftesting.ThescreenshotshowninFigureFivewascapturedimmediatelyafterlaunchingtheQuickConfigurationWizardfromtheMDS9124DeviceManager.Thisscreen

showed the currentzoneconfigurationofthe switch,alongwith theManufacturer andWWN (WorldWideName,theuniqueaddressofeachdeviceontheSAN)ofeverydevicecurrentlyattachedtoit.Theonlystepneededtoconfiguretheswitchwastochecktheportstobezonedtogetherandclick‘Next’whichpresentedaconfirmationscreenbeforechangeswerecommitted.Clicking‘Finish’committedthechangesandactivatedthezoneset.ESGLabwasimpressedbythe“grid”interfaceandeaseofuseofthisnewtwo-stepwizard.NotethatthewizardnotonlydetectedWWNs,butitalsoidentifiedthemanufacturerofeachdeviceinplainEnglish(notedin blue). This makes it very easy to quickly identify storage, switch and server ports during initial SANconfiguration.

Figure Five: Quick Configuration Wizard, Page One

.

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Once the zone set was activated, basic SAN configuration was complete. We then opened the diskadministratorutilityon theSAN-attachedWindows server andselected ‘rescan.’ NTFS filesystemswerecreatedandexercisedusingeachofthefourCLARiiONdevices(drivelettersE,F,GandH).AsshowninFigure Six, the SAN-attachedstorage devices on the EMCCLARiiONdisk arraywere now visible to theWindows server. The total setup time from opening the Configuration Wizard to SAN-attached disks

becomingvisibletotheserverwasabouttwominutes.

Figure Six: Windows Disk Administrator

Why This Matters

Traditional SAN deployment and administration can be time consuming and requires significant levels of

expertise that administrators at small or medium sized businesses simply don’t have. The Cisco Quick

Configuration wizard enables fast and easy initial SAN configuration that connects servers to storage in

minutes, allowing IT staff to complete the task without the need to bring in outside SAN expertise.

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Scalability / Investment Protection

Whenimplementingasharedstorageenvironmentforthefirsttime,asmallnumberofportsmaybeallthatisrequiredattheoutset,butoncethebusinessstartstorealizethebenefitsofsharedstorage,administratorswillwanttoputmoreapplications,serversandstorageintothepool.Withaneight-portbaseconfigurationexpandableto twenty-four ineight portincrements, theCiscoMDS9124 allowscustomerstoprotect theirinitial investment by adding ports to their SAN as neededwithout having to buy new switches. VSANcapabilityadds to this flexibility,allowinga customer todeploy separateSANs,eachwith their own fabricservices, onthesamephysicalswitch. For example,a commercialcustomercoulduseVSANs todeployseparateSANsfordatabase,e-mailandbackupservices,eachwithitsownseparatefabricservices,inoneswitch.WithoutVSANs,acustomerwouldhavetodeployadiscretepairofswitchesforeachapplication,multiplyingthecostandcomplexityoftheenvironment. Anonlineportupgradeisperformedusingthesameupgradewizardused foronlinecodeupgrades.FigureSevenshowsPortLicensingbeforeandafteranupgradefromeighttosixteenports.

Figure Seven: Online Port upgrade

Why This Matters

One of the major reasons to move to a shared storage infrastructure is enhanced scalability at a reduced

overall cost. A fixed configuration switch means you either have to replace it when you outgrow it, or buy

more than you need at the outset, spending more than you need to.

A flexible-configuration switch offers users an attractive option, allowing customers to pay only for the

storage network capacity they are using, when they need it.

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Scaling to Enterprise-Class

Thusfarwehavefocusedonsingledomainstorageenvironmentsthatarefairlysimpletodeployandrarely

involveconnectingmultipleswitches. Enterpriseenvironments frequentlyemployacore-to-edgemodel, toextend the benefitsof shared storage todepartmentsand toremoteofficesoutside themaindatacenter.FigureEightshowsasimplifieddiagramofacore-to-edgeinfrastructurewithlargeenterprise-classdirectors,storagearraysandservers in thedatacenter(thecore),with fabricswitchesextendingconnectivityout toservers and storage in departments at the edge and further to remote offices. With this architecture,departmentsandremoteofficesoutsidethecoredatacentercanenjoymanyofthesamebenefitsastheircolleaguesinthedatacentersuchas: Manageability-Theabilitytodynamicallyallocatestoragefromthecommonpool Serviceability-Serverreplacementwithnodatamigration Consolidation-Shareddiskarrayandtapeinfrastructure DataProtection–Arraybaseddataprotectionandcopyservices HighAvailability-Multi-pathaccesstofaulttolerantstorage

Figure Eight: Core to Edge

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FigureNineshowsthetestbedusedbyESGLabforMDS9124core-to-edgetesting.AsecondCiscoMDS9124wascabledtoanexistingenterprise-classSANconsistingoftwoMDS9509directorsattachedtotwohighendstoragearraysfromEMCandHDS.

Figure Nine: Core-to-Edge Test Bed

Error!

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Connectivity

Whilethe9124isaimedsquarelyatthesmalltomediumsizedbusiness,itsharesoperatingsoftwarewithCisco’senterprise-classdirectorsandcantakeadvantageofalltheadvancedfunctionalityinSAN-OS.Thebalance of ESG Lab validation testing was performed with a focus on the enterprise-class features andfunctionalityprovidedbytheCiscoMDS9124,throughitsuseofCisco’sSAN-OSsoftware.The Cisco MDS9124 Series uses the DeviceManager orFabric Manager to implement a feature calledVirtualSANs,orVSANs.VSANsallowadministratorstocreatelogicalisolatedSANswithinasinglephysicalSAN fabric or switch. Each VSAN can be zoned individually and maintains its own fabric services forscalabilityandresilience.VSANtechnologyenhancesavailabilitybyisolatingSANsandpreventinganissuewith one device orapplication fromaffecting the rest of the network. InterVSANRouting (IVR)enablessecure,safecommunicationbetweenVSANs.ESG Lab Testing Advanced features like VSAN functionality are easily accessible from the Device Manager or the FabricManagerapplications.ESGLabbegantestingtheVSANcapabilitiesoftheMDS9124byrightclickingontheVSANlistinFabricManager.CompletingtheVSANconfigurationwaseasyasshowninFigureTen.Simply

select the desired switches, provideaname for the VSAN (in this caseweusedESG-Lab) and click theCreatebuttontocompletetheoperation.Oncethiswascomplete,storageattachedto theMDS9509whichwasconfiguredinadifferentVSANcouldnotbeseenorused.Itwasalsonotedthatthestorageattachedtothe9509couldnotbeseenuntilaVSANwascreatedandzoningwascompleted.

Figure Ten: VSAN Creation page

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OncetheVSANwascreatedbetweenthe9124andthe9509,aPortChannelwascreatedbetweenthetwodevicesusingthewizardshowninFigureEleven.PortChannelsenableanadministratortoaggregateupto15physicalInterSwitchLinks(ISLs)intoasinglelogicalpath.ThisprovidesoptimizedbandwidthutilizationacrossalllinksinthePortChannel.ThebundlecanconsistofanyportfromanyASICinthechassis,ensuringthatthechannelremainsactiveevenintheeventofalinecardormodulefailure.ESGcreatedandexercisedaportchannelcomprisedoftwo4GbpsISLsforatotalof8Gbpsbandwidthbetweenthe9124and9509.

Figure Eleven: Port Channeling

Why This Matters

Paying a premium for enterprise-class switches or directors is simply not an option for most small

businesses. The MDS 9124 is not a stripped down entry level product, but delivers the same full featured

enterprise-class functionality as Cisco MDS directors. Features such as VSAN and Port Channeling

provide entry level users with the versatility and capability to grow with their business.

Features like VSAN and Port Channeling will also be appreciated by enterprise-class users who want to

seamlessly introduce the MDS 9124 for edge connectivity into an existing Cisco SAN.

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Serviceability/AvailabilityThe Cisco MDS 9124 supports advanced serviceability features including online firmware upgrades,redundantpowersuppliesandonlinepowersupplymaintenance.Duringtheservicelifeofanyswitchinacustomer’senvironment,itisnotunreasonabletoassumethatswitchfirmwarewillneedtobeupdatedatsomepoint,eithertofixabugorenableanenhancedfeature.ForFabricswitchesintheclassoftheCisco9124,thiscouldrequirearebootoftheswitchattheendoftheupgrade.TheMDS9124canbeconfiguredwithsingleordualredundantpowersupplies,astandardHAfeatureonenterprise-classFabricSwitches.PowersuppliesaremonitoredbytheDeviceManagerscreenandcanbeinstalledorremovedhotandonline.ESG Lab Testing

Totestboththefunctionalityandthenon-disruptivenatureofthecodeload,theindustrystandardIOMETERworkloadgeneratorwasusedtoperform2,000I/OspersecondfromaSAN-attachedserverThefour-stepSoftwareInstallWizardwaslaunchedfromtheDeviceManager.Thethirdstep,showninFigureTwelve,wasusedtoselectthefiletoload.Theentireprocesstooklessthanfourminutestocomplete.TheIOMETERjobcontinuedrunningat2,000I/Ospersecondthroughouttheentireprocess.

Figure Twelve: Software Install Wizard

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Theabilityto surviveapower supply failurewas testedby leaving IOMETER runningwhilewepulledonepowersupplyoutofthechassis.Almostimmediately,theDeviceManagerviewupdatedtoreflectthechangeinstatusasseeninFigureThirteen.PowerSupplyOneshowsastatusof‘offEnvPower’indicatingthatnoPowerSupplyisdetectedinSlotOne.IOMETERneverstoppedandnoerrorswererecordedontheserver.

Figure Thirteen: Power Supply Offline

Thenextstepwastoinstallapowersupply,asacustomerwoulddoinafailuresituationorwhenupgradingfromsingletodualpowersupplies.TheprocedureissimplytoinsertthePowerSupplyintotherearofthechassis.Again,almostimmediately,theDeviceManagerupdatedandshowedthereplacementPowersupplyonline.

Why This Matters

Switch software updates are often required to address issues with third party drivers, to take advantage of

changing or emerging standards or to enable enhanced functionality. A small business may have all of

their applications running on a single production SAN, so bringing that SAN down for maintenance can

impact the entire business negatively. Redundant power supplies protect against the failure of the only

moving parts in a FC switch the fans).

The ability to perform these upgrades non-disruptively means that they can be performed during business

hours with no impact to production applications or users.

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Security

Becausetheyrunthesameoperatingenvironmentastheenterprise-classMDS9500series,allofthesamesecurity options available for the protection of sensitive data traveling over the storage network are alsoavailableaspartoftheMDS9124.TheMDS9124employspacketinspectionattheportlevel,theapplicationofACLs for hardware enforcement ofZones, VSANs and advancedPort Security features such asLUNzoning,read-onlyzoningandbroadcastzoning.In addition,theFibreChannelSecurityProtocol (FC-SP)issupportedforswitch-to-switchandhost-to-switchDH-CHAPauthenticationusinglocalpasswords,RADIUSorTACACS+.

ESG Lab Testing

ESGLabtestedswitch-to-switchauthenticationusingtheFibreChannelSecurityProtocolwhichentailedfirstenablingFC-SPonbothswitches.TheWWNofeachswitchwasobtainedandalocalandremotepasswordwereconfiguredforeachswitch.SeveralcommandswerethenrunoneachswitchtoenableFC-SP.Oncethesestepshavebeencompleted,theswitcheswereabletoauthenticateandwewereabletoseestorageontheothersideofthelinkandmountvolumes.OutputfromtheshowinterfacecommandshowninFigureFourteenwasusedtoverifythatthelinkwasupandtheswitcheshadsuccessfullyauthenticated.

Figure Fourteen: Switch Authentication Success

Why This Matters

Businesses’ well being depends on the data in their shared storage resources. If data is compromised,

stolen, corrupted or deleted,customers face risks ranging from lost revenue to fines or even lawsuits. SAN

security is a vital component to an overall data protection plan. ESG Lab has verified that the Cisco MDS

9124 offers an extensive security framework to protect highly sensitive data, as does the entire MDS 9000

Family.

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Performance/Traffic Management

Inadeparturefromthearchitectureusedinthe9120and9140FabricSwitches,theCiscoMDS9124isafullynon-blocking4Gb/sfabricswitch.ESGLabtestedperformancetovalidatethatthe9124wasabletopasstrafficat4Gb/sonall24portssimultaneously.AnAgilentSANTesterloadgeneratorwasattachedtoportsfc1/1andfc1/2. Theremaining22portswerecabledtogetherin a ‘snake’configurationand VSANswere

configuredsothattrafficreceivedonportsfc1/1andfc1/2wouldtraverseeveryportintheswitch.ESGLabusedtheCiscoSAN-OScommandlinetoverifythatallportswereoperatingat4Gbpsandthatallchannelsweretransmittingandreceivingdata.TheoutputoftheshowinterfacecounterscommandinFigureFifteenshowsthateachchannelwaspassing418MB/secineachdirectionsimultaneously.

Figure Fifteen: 4 Gb line rate Throughput

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Whilerawperformanceisagoodthing,trafficmanagementisessentialinasharedstoragearchitecturetoprotect critical applications by guaranteeing minimum levels of bandwidth so that bandwidth hungryapplications(e,g.,abackuprunningovertheSAN)can’tstarveresponse-timesensitiveapplications(e.g.,e-mailandon-linedatabaseapplications).Cisco’sMDS9124employsthesamesuiteoftrafficmanagementmethodologiesastherestoftheMDS9000line,includingQualityofService(QoS),whichESGLabtestedaspartofthisValidation.

ESG Lab Testing

ThreeportswereattachedtoanAgilentSANTesterandconfiguredwithtwoportsassourceportsandoneasatargetport.Asteadystreamoftrafficrunningat2Gbpswasthensentthroughthesourceandtargetports.FigureSixteenshowsthethroughputonallthreeportspriortotheapplicationofQoS.Notethatbothsourceports(103/1and103/3)weretransmittingat105MB/sandthetargetport(103/2)wasreceivingat210MB/s.Ports103/1and103/3havetheabilitytotransmitatahigherratebutwithoutQoS,theMDS9124grantedeachofthemequalstatusandsoeachreceivedexactlyhalfoftheavailablebandwidth.

Figure Sixteen: Throughput before QoS

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QoSwasappliedtoport103/3tolimitthroughputto25%ofthetotalavailable.Theresultswereimmediateanddramatic.InFigureSeventeen,youcanseethatPort103/3isnowlimitedtojustunder50MB/swhileport103/1isnowabletodrivemorethan160MB/s.

Figure Seventeen:

Throughput with QoS

Why This Matters

One of the major reasons for moving to shared SAN-attached storage is scalability. As a SAN fabric

scales, the likelihood that users and applications will be vying for the same resources increases. ESG Lab

has confirmed that the 9124‘s 4Gb/s non-blocking architecture provides predictable scalability across all

24 ports in the switch in both directions. The mature Traffic Management feature set shared with Cisco’s

Enterprise Fibre Channel Directors ensures that the bandwidth is utilized efficiently and exactly as

intended.

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ESG Lab Validation Highlights

The impressive Quick Configuration Wizard makes deployment extremely easy for any sizedcompany.

OnlineSoftware/Hardwareupgrades,dualpowersuppliesandintegratedVSANsenableenterprise-classavailabilityandscalability.

418MB/sec(4Gbps)ofthroughputonall24portsinbothdirectionsprovidesperformancescalability. Afullenterprise-classfeaturesetensuresmaximumflexibility. SAN-OSprovidesseamlessintegrationwithenterprise-classfabrics.

Issues to Consider

AgraphicalconfigurationwizardwouldmakeiteasiertoconfigureFC-SP(FCSecurity). Cisco should continue to work closely with its partners to introduce integrated SAN solutions -

storage,HBAandswitchinaboxwithanend-to-endwizard.ThiswouldmakeiteasierforsmallbusinesseswithlittletonoSANexperiencetobuyandconfigureasharedstoragenetworkusingaCiscoMDS9124forcost-effectivefabricswitchconnectivity.

ESG Lab View

ESG Researchhas shown that SAN adopters insmall tomedium sizedbusinesses have benefited fromincreaseddataavailability,improvedbackupandrecoveryand increasedstorageutilization.ThisESGLabvalidation has confirmed that the new SAN-OS basedCiscoMDS 9124 fabric switch is a very effectivesolutionforsmalltomediumsizedbusinesseslookingtomigratefromDAStohighavailabilitySANs.Usingasystem-in-a-chip architecture that ESGLab has proven can scaleup to24portsofnon-blocking 4Gbpsbandwidth, the MDS 9124 provides a high performance, eight-port entry for a SAN that can be easilyupgradedtosupportfuturegrowth.FirsttimeSANuserswillappreciatethenewuser-friendlyconfigurationwizardwhichguidesaninexperienceduserthroughinitialsetupinminimaltime.Pricing is expected to be competitive for entry level configurations and we expect Cisco to aggressivelymarketthisproducttodrivemarketshareinthisspace.Ciscoonlycompetesinaspacewheretheyknowtheycan be a market leader. Including enterprise-class SAN-OS features such as Fabric Manager, VSANs,security, port channels and comprehensive diagnostics in the base priceof the switch is a differentiator.Pricedcorrectly,weexpectthe9124willgainsignificantmarkettractiongiventheappropriatesaleschannels.

FeaturessuchasVSAN,security,non-disruptive firmwareupdatesandQoSwill providecustomersin thissegmenttheversatilityandcapabilitytogrowwiththeirbusiness.CiscoismakingastrongcommitmenttosupporttheSMBmarketwithfullfeaturedproductslikethe9124,somethingthemarkethasaskedfor,buthasyettobedelivered,untilnow.Moreimportantly,allthesefeatureswillbedeliveredaspartofthestandardpackage–notasincrementalcosts.Thesecurityfeaturesareespeciallyimportant,consideringtheamountofsensitiveinformationthatisstoredonshared infrastructures.Cisco isdeliveringenterprise-class security featureson thisscalableentry levelswitch.ThesefeatureswillveryusefulforcustomerslookingtoleveragetheMDS9124toimplementbusinesscontinuityanddisasterrecoverysolutions.EnterpriselevelcustomersshouldalsoconsidertheMDS9124asaverygoodchoiceforenablingacore-to-

edgesolution,especiallywithexistingMDSDirectors,astheywillsharethesameSANOS.Itswizardbasedsoftware will make adding switches to remote sites or the edge a simple process that will not requireexperienced SAN professionals. The price points could make it more attractive to include lower tieredstrandedserversintotheSANenvironment.Wewould alsorecommendthatCisco continue toworkwith itspartners todevelop simple,preconfigured“SANinabox”solutionstofurtheraidadoption.Theseend-to-endsolutionshelpreducethecomplexityandeaseof installation.Ideally,ifCiscocould leveragetheirnewwizardconfigurationtoencompassthe entiresolution,itwouldsimplifythesolutionimplementationprocessevenfurther.TheCiscoMDS9124provideseaseofuseandenterpriselevelfunctionalityatveryattractivepricinglevels.ClearlythebarhasbeenraisedfortheSMBSANswitchmarket.

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AppendixThetestconfigurationisillustratedinFigureEighteen.CiscoprovidedtwoMDS9124fabricswitches,eachattachedtoanEMCCX500array.Each9124wasalsoattachedtoanMDS9509whichwasattachedinturntoanEMCSymmetrix8530andaHitachiDataSystems9900Varray.AllMDSswitchesanddirectorswererunningSAN-OSversion3.0(1).OneIBMx335serverrunningWindows2003onaQlogicQLA2342HBA

wasused forall testing. AnAgilentSANTester loadgeneratorwasutilizedto generate trafficon thefibrechannelconnectionsforQualityofServiceandPerformancetesting.

Figure Eighteen: Test Bed Diagram

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