Cisco Systems Korea (www.cisco.com/kr) has recently announced several hardware and software solutions that will back up MDS 9000 series and SAN products.

Cisco said that MDS (Multilayer DataCenter Switch) 9000 Family of Multilayer Directors and Fabric Switches are ideal products in increasing data availability, and allow customers to more efficiently manage their storage resources.

The newly introduced items of hardware are the MDS 9216 Multilayer Fabric Switch and MDS Multiprotocol Service Module.

The Cisco MDS 9216i Multilayer Fabric Switch integrates Fiber Channel and IP into a single form factor, providing fourteen 2-Gbps Fiber Channel interfaces and two Gigabit Ethernet ports which can be configured to support either Fiber Channel over IP (FCIP) for long distance SAN extension or iSCSI for cost-effective SAN expansion. As the storage network expands, the Cisco MDS 9000 Family modules can be migrated from the Cisco MDS 9216i into Cisco MDS 9500 Series Multilayer Directors, providing smooth migration, common sparing, and outstanding investment protection.

Meanwhile, the Cisco MDS 9000 Family Multiprotocol Services Module is designed for mission-critical enterprise storage networks that require robust, cost-effective business continuance services. Leveraging Fiber Channel and Internet Protocol (IP) in a single module, Cisco MDS 9000 Family Multiprotocol Services Module offers the following key features: integrated Fiber Channel and IP Storage Services in an optimized form factor; support for up to fourteen 2-Gbps Fiber Channel interfaces for high performance SAN connectivity and two Gigabit Ethernet ports for Fiber Channel over IP (FCIP); and Small Computer System Interface over IP (iSCSI) storage services.