Through its Connectrix brand, EMC delivers connectivity for the modern data center that enables a broad range of customer storage applications, from application environments like Oracle, SAP and Microsoft to backup, archiving, and disaster protection over distance. As customers move to all flash storage systems, it’s important to ensure that the storage network is updated to keep pace. Today we’re announcing the general availability of the new Connectrix MDS-9718, designed for the hyper consolidation requirements of the modern data center, which supports sixteen switching modules and 768 line rate 16Gb/s Fibre Channel ports. As the industry’s highest port density, “devops friendly” programmable director, it delivers both value and performance.
Key Benefits
A design for growth and consolidation – EMC’s enterprise and cloud customers can deploy the MDS-9718 to grow, consolidate, converge and simplify operations. The high performing, multi-protocol MDS-9718 supports Fibre Channel and 40 GigE Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) today.
Investment protection –The MDS-9718 was designed as a platform for the “next decade” as it addresses the rigorous requirements of today and tomorrow’s large virtualized data centers for cloud or flash environments. In addition, the MDS-9718 has been built so customers will be able to flexibly move to line rate 32Gb Fibre Channel in the future, in the same MDS-9718 chassis installed today.
Programmable director – The new NXAPI provides programmatic access to MDS over HTTP(s). This allows users to control the director using a web browser thus enabling simplified provisioning and script-based manageability. NXAPI can be leveraged to automate network functions and troubleshooting.
Ease of management – The MDS-9718 is managed by the Data Center Network Manager (DCNM). DCNM, a unified management tool, manages Storage Area Networks (SAN) and Local Area Networks (LAN) providing management across the NX-OS family of devices. The new MDS-9718 also supports Power On Auto Provisioning (POAP) to automate software image upgrades and configuration. For additional reliability, POAP also provides intelligent diagnostics, network analysis tools and protocol decoding.
Since 2003, EMC has been reselling and servicing Cisco MDS Fibre Channel products under the EMC Connectrix brand in the world’s most mission critical storage networking environments. The release of the Connectrix MDS 9718 demonstrates EMC’s commitment to providing our mutual customers an enhanced storage networking portfolio to grow, consolidate, converge and simplify operations with the industry’s highest port density SAN director.