The Cisco® MDS 9222i Multiservice Modular Switch (Figure 1), the next generation of the highly flexible, industry-leading, proven Cisco MDS 9200 Series Multilayer Switches, is an optimized platform for deploying high-performance storage area network (SAN) extension solutions, distributed intelligent fabric services, and cost-effective multiprotocol connectivity for both open and mainframe environments. With a compact form factor, modularity, and advanced capabilities normally available only on director-class switches, the Cisco MDS 9222i is an ideal solution for departmental and remote branch-office SANs.
Sharing a consistent architecture with the Cisco MDS 9500 Series Multilayer Directors, the Cisco MDS 9222i offers 18 4-Gbps Fibre Channel ports and 4 Gigabit Ethernet IP storage services ports and a modular expansion slot to host Cisco MDS 9000 Family switching and services modules.
As the storage network continues to expand, the Cisco MDS 9000 Family switching modules can be removed from the Cisco MDS 9222i modular switches and migrated to Cisco MDS 9500 Series directors, providing high flexibility, smooth migration, common sparing, and outstanding investment protection.
The Cisco MDS 9222i provides unique multilayer and multiprotocol functions in a compact form factor:
• High-density Fibre Channel switch with integrated multiprotocol support: The Cisco MDS 9222i offers 18 4-Gbps Fibre Channel interfaces for high-performance SAN connectivity and 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports for Fibre Channel over IP (FCIP) and Small Computer System Interface over IP (iSCSI) storage services. The Cisco MDS 9222i has the flexibility to scale up to a 66-port Fibre Channel switch with the Cisco 48-Port 4-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module for both open and IBM Fibre Connection (FICON) environments.
• High-density connectivity through 8Gps Fibre Channel ports: Cisco MDS 9222i supports the 4/44-Port 8-Gbps Host-Optimized Fibre Channel Switching Module which delivers a high density, cost effective connectivity option.
• Integrated hardware-based virtual fabric isolation with Virtual SANs (VSANs) and Fibre Channel routing with Inter-VSAN Routing (IVR): VSANs and IVR enable deployment of large-scale multisite and heterogeneous SAN topologies. Integration into port-level hardware allows any port in a system or in a fabric to be partitioned into any VSAN. Integrated IVR provides line-rate routing between any of the ports in a system or in a fabric without the need for external routing appliances.
• Remote SAN extension with high-performance FCIP
– Simplifies data protection and business continuance strategies by enabling backup, remote replication, and other disaster recovery services over WAN distances using open-standard FCIP tunneling.
– Optimizes utilization of WAN resources for backup and replication by enabling hardware-based compression, hardware-based encryption, FCIP Write Acceleration, and FCIP Tape Read and Write acceleration; up to 16 virtual Inter-Switch Link (ISL) connections are provided on the 4 Gigabit Ethernet port through tunneling.
– Preserves Cisco MDS 9000 Family enhanced capabilities, including VSANs, IVR, advanced traffic management, and network security across remote connections
• Cost-effective iSCSI connectivity to Ethernet-attached servers
– Extends the benefits of Fibre Channel SAN-based storage to Ethernet-attached servers at a lower cost than is possible using Fibre Channel interconnect alone.
– Increases storage utilization and availability through consolidation of IP and Fibre Channel block storage.
– Through transparent operation, preserves the capability of existing storage management applications.
• Advanced FICON services: The Cisco MDS 9222i supports FICON environments, including cascaded FICON fabrics, VSAN-enabled intermix of mainframe and open systems environments, and N_Port ID virtualization for mainframe Linux partitions. IBM Control Unit Port (CUP) support enables in-band management of Cisco MDS 9200 Series switches from the mainframe management console.
• Integrated Cisco MDS Storage Media Encryption (SME) as distributed fabric service: Natively supported on the Cisco MDS 9222i, Cisco MDS SME encrypts data at rest on heterogeneous tape drives and virtual tape libraries (VTLs) in a SAN environment using secure IEEE standard Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 256-bit algorithms. Cisco MDS 9222i helps ensure ease of deployment, scalability, and high availability by using innovative technology to transparently offer Cisco MDS SME capabilities to any device connected to the fabric without the need for reconfiguration or rewiring. Cisco MDS SME provisioning and key management are both integrated into the Cisco Fabric Manager; no additional software is required.
• Integrated Cisco MDS Data Mobility Manager (DMM): Natively support on the Cisco MDS 9222i, Cisco MDS DMM application enables data migration between heterogeneous targets.
• Platform for Intelligent Fabric Applications: Cisco MDS 9222i provides hosting and acceleration of storage applications such as network-hosted volume management, data migration, and backup with the Cisco MDS 9000 Family Storage Services Module (SSM) installed in the expansion slot. Cisco MDS SSMs use the SANTap protocol to assist third-party applications in the fabric.
• In Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) for Fibre Channel interfaces: Cisco MDS 9222i promotes high serviceability by allowing Cisco MDS 9000 SAN-OS Software to be upgraded while the Fibre Channel ports are carrying traffic.
• Intelligent network services: Cisco MDS 9222i uses VSAN technology for hardware-enforced, isolated environments within a single physical fabric, access control lists (ACLs) for hardware-based intelligent frame processing, and advanced traffic management features such as Fibre Channel Congestion Control and fabric-wide quality of service (QoS) to facilitate migration from SAN islands to enterprise-wide storage networks.
• High-performance ISLs: Cisco MDS 9222i supports up to 16 Fibre Channel links in a single PortChannel. Links can span any port on any module in a chassis for added scalability and resilience. Up to 4095 buffer-to-buffer credits can be assigned to a single Fibre Channel port to extend storage networks over very long distances.
• Comprehensive network security framework: The Cisco MDS 9222i supports RADIUS and TACACS+, Fibre Channel Security Protocol (FC-SP), Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), Secure Shell (SSH) Protocol, and Simple Network Management Protocol Version 3 (SNMPv3) implementing AES, VSANs, hardware-enforced zoning, ACLs, and per-VSAN Role-Based Access Control (RBAC). Additionally, the Gigabit Ethernet ports offer IP Security (IPsec) authentication, data integrity, and hardware-assisted data encryption for FCIP and iSCSI.
• IP Version 6 (IPv6) capable: The Cisco MDS 9222i supports IPv6 as mandated by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), Japan, and China. IPv6 support is provided for FCIP, iSCSI, and management traffic routed in-band and out-of-band.
• Sophisticated diagnostics: The Cisco MDS 9222i provides intelligent diagnostics, protocol decoding, and network analysis tools as well as integrated Call Home capability for added reliability, faster problem resolution, and reduced service costs.
VSANs
Ideal for efficient, secure SAN consolidation, VSANs enable more efficient storage network utilization by creating hardware-based isolated environments with a single physical SAN fabric or switch. Each VSAN can be zoned as a typical SAN and maintains its own fabric services for added scalability and resilience. VSANs allow the cost of SAN infrastructure to be shared among more users, while helping ensure complete segregation of traffic and retaining independent control of configuration on a VSAN-by-VSAN basis.
IVR
In another step toward deploying efficient, cost-effective, consolidated storage networks, the Cisco MDS 9222i supports IVR, the industry's first routing function for Fibre Channel. IVR allows selective transfer of data between specific initiators and targets on different VSANs while maintaining isolation of control traffic within each VSAN. With IVR, data can transit VSAN boundaries while maintaining control plane isolation, thereby maintaining fabric stability and availability. Integrated IVR eliminates the need for external routing appliances, greatly increasing routing scalability while delivering line-rate routing performance, simplifying management, and eliminating the challenges associated with maintaining separate systems. Integrated IVR means lower total cost of SAN ownership.
FCIP for Remote SAN Extension
Data distribution, data protection, and business continuance services are significant components of today's information-centric businesses. The capability to efficiently replicate critical data on a global scale not only ensures a higher level of data protection for valuable corporate information, but also increases utilization of backup resources and lowers total cost of storage ownership.
Building on Cisco expertise and knowledge of IP networks, the Cisco MDS 9222i switch uses open-standard FCIP to break the distance barrier of current Fibre Channel solutions, enabling interconnection of SAN islands over extended distances.
The Cisco MDS 9222i dramatically enhances hardware-based FCIP compression performance for both high-bandwidth and low-bandwidth links, providing immediate cost savings for expensive WAN infrastructure. The Cisco MDS 9222i achieves up to a 43:1 compression ratio, with typical ratios of 4:1 over a wide variety of data sources.
The Cisco MDS 9222i supports hardware-based IPsec encryption for secure transmission of sensitive data over extended distances. Hardware enablement of IPsec helps ensure high throughput. Used together, hardware-based compression and hardware-based encryption provide high-performance, highly secure SAN extension capabilities.
Additionally, the Cisco MDS 9222i supports FCIP Write Acceleration, a feature that can significantly improve application performance when storage traffic is extended across long distances. When FCIP Write Acceleration is enabled, WAN throughput is optimized by reducing the latency of command acknowledgments. Similarly, the Cisco MDS 9222i supports FCIP Tape acceleration, which allows operation at nearly full throughput over WAN links for remote tape backup and restore operations. FCIP Tape Write Acceleration is supported in mainframe environments.
Cisco MDS SME
The services provided by Cisco MDS SME are mandatory in today's storage area networks as a result of enactment of recent regulations that require companies to store and protect data at rest for a specified number of years while publicly disclosing security breeches. Cisco MDS SME enables data on tapes and VTLs to be compressed, encrypted, and authenticated for centralized security management and data management and recovery. Cisco MDS SME is supported in the fixed slot of the Cisco MDS 9222i, and its performance can be scaled up with either a Cisco MDS 18/4-port Multiservice Module or 18/4-port Multiservice Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) Module. Cisco MDS SME services employ clustering technology to create a highly available solution. The cryptographic cluster formed enhances reliability and availability, provides automated load balancing and failover capabilities, and simplifies provisioning as a single SAN fabric service rather than as individual switches or modules. The Cisco Key Management Center (KMC) provides comprehensive key management for Cisco MDS SME, with support for single- and multiple-site deployments. Cisco KMC provides essential features such as key archival, secure export and import and translation for distribution, and key shredding.
Cisco MDS Data Mobility Manager (DMM)
Natively supported on the Cisco MDS 9222i, Cisco MDS DMM is a fabric-based data migration solution that transfers block data nondisruptively across heterogeneous storage volumes and across distances, whether the host is online or offline. This data-center class solution helps to minimize the challenges experienced in migrating data, such as downtime, the need to add data migration software to servers, and the potential for data loss and corruption. By simply enabling the DMM feature on the Cisco MDS 9222i located anywhere in the SAN, data migration can be configured without host agents, without rewiring, with minimal performance impact, and without downtime.
Platform for Intelligent Fabric Applications
The Cisco MDS 9222i provides an open platform that delivers the intelligence and advanced features required to make multilayer intelligent SANs a reality, including hardware-enabled innovations to host or accelerate applications for data migration, data replication, serverless backup, and network-hosted volume management. Hosting or accelerating these applications in the network can dramatically improve scalability, availability, security, and manageability of the storage environment, resulting in increased utility and lower total cost of ownership (TCO).
Integrated Mainframe Support
The Cisco MDS 9222i is mainframe-ready, with full support for IBM zSeries FICON and Linux environments. Qualified by IBM for attachment to all FICON-enabled devices in an IBM zSeries operating environment, Cisco MDS 9222i switches support transport of the FICON protocol in both cascaded and noncascaded fabrics, as well as an intermix of FICON and open systems Fibre Channel Protocol traffic on the same switch. VSANs simplify intermixing of SAN resources among z/OS, mainframe Linux, and open systems environments, enabling increased SAN utilization and simplified SAN management. VSAN-based intermix mode eliminates the uncertainty and instability often associated with zoning-based intermix techniques. VSANs also eliminate the possibility that a misconfiguration or component failure in one VSAN will affect operation in other VSANs. VSAN-based management access controls simplify partitioning of SAN management responsibilities between mainframe and open systems environments, enhancing security. FICON VSANs can be managed using the integrated Cisco Fabric Manager; the Cisco command-line interface (CLI); or IBM CUP-enabled management tools, including SA/390, Resource Measurement Facility (RMF), and Dynamic Channel Path Management (DCM).
Advanced Traffic Management
The following advanced traffic-management capabilities are integrated into the Cisco MDS 9222i to simplify deployment and optimization of large-scale fabrics:
• Virtual Output Queuing: Helps ensure line-rate performance on each port, independent of traffic pattern, by eliminating head-of-line blocking.
• Up to 4095 buffer-to-buffer credits: Can be assigned to an individual port for optimal bandwidth utilization across long distances.
• PortChannels: Allow users to aggregate up to 16 physical ISLs into a single logical bundle, providing optimized bandwidth utilization across all links; the bundle can consist of any speed-matched ports from any module in the chassis, helping ensure that the bundle can remain active even in the event of a module failure.
• Fabric Shortest Path First (FSPF)-based multipathing: Provides the intelligence to load balance across up to 16 equal-cost paths and, in the event of a switch failure, dynamically reroute traffic.
• QoS: Can be used to manage bandwidth and control latency, to prioritize critical traffic
• Fibre Channel Congestion Control: Provides an end-to-end, feedback-based congestion control mechanism that augments the Fibre Channel buffer-to-buffer credit mechanism to provide enhanced traffic management.
Comprehensive Solution for Robust Network Security
To address the need for failure-proof security in storage networks, the Cisco MDS 9222i offers an extensive security framework to protect highly sensitive data crossing today's enterprise networks:
• Intelligent packet inspection is provided at the port level, including the application of ACLs for hardware enforcement of zones, VSANs, and advanced port security features.
• Extended zoning capabilities are provided to help ensure that logical unit numbers (LUNs) can be accessed only by specific hosts (LUN zoning), to limit SCSI read commands for a certain zone (read-only zoning), and to restrict broadcasts to only selected zones (broadcast zones).
• VSANs offer higher security and greater stability by providing complete isolation among devices that are connected to the same physical SAN.
• FC-SP provides switch-switch and host-switch Diffie-Hellman Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (DH-CHAP) authentication supporting RADIUS or TACACS+ to help ensure that only authorized devices access protected storage networks.
• Comprehensive IPsec protocol suite delivers secure authentication, data integrity, and hardware-based encryption for both FCIP and iSCSI deployments.
Advanced Diagnostics and Troubleshooting Tools
Management of large-scale storage networks requires proactive diagnostics, tools to verify connectivity and route latency, and mechanisms for capturing and analyzing traffic. The Cisco MDS 9000 Family integrates the industry's most advanced analysis and diagnostic tools. Power-on self-test (POST) and online diagnostics provide proactive health monitoring. The Cisco MDS 9222i implements diagnostic capabilities such as Fibre Channel Traceroute for detailing the exact path and timing of flows and Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN) to intelligently capture network traffic. After traffic has been captured, it can be analyzed with the Cisco Fabric Analyzer, an embedded Fibre Channel analyzer. Comprehensive port-based and flow-based statistics facilitate sophisticated performance analysis and service-level agreement (SLA) accounting. With the Cisco MDS 9000 Family, Cisco delivers a comprehensive toolset for troubleshooting and analysis of storage networks.
Ease of Management
To meet the needs of all users, the Cisco MDS 9222i provides three principal modes of management: the Cisco MDS 9000 Family CLI, Cisco Fabric Manager, and integration with third-party storage management tools.
• The Cisco MDS9222i presents a consistent, logical CLI. Adhering to the syntax of the widely known Cisco IOS® Software CLI, the Cisco MDS 9000 Family CLI is easy to learn and delivers broad management capabilities. It is an extremely efficient and direct interface designed to provide optimal functions for administrators in enterprise environments.
• Cisco Fabric Manager is a responsive, easy-to-use Java application that simplifies management across multiple switches and fabrics. Cisco Fabric Manager enables administrators to perform vital tasks such as topology discovery, fabric configuration and verification, provisioning, monitoring, and fault resolution. All functions are available through a secure interface, enabling remote management from any location.
• Cisco Fabric Manager can be used independently or in conjunction with third-party management applications. Cisco provides an extensive API for integration with third-party and user-developed management tools.
Advanced Software Packages
The Cisco MDS 9222i can be further enhanced through additional software packages that offer advanced intelligence and functions. Currently available software packages include the following:
• Cisco MDS 9000 Family Enterprise Package: This package includes a set of traffic engineering and advanced security features such as IVR, QoS, switch-to-switch and host-to-switch authentication, LUN zoning, and read-only zones that are recommended for enterprise SANs.
• Cisco MDS 9000 Family Enterprise Mainframe Package: This package is a comprehensive collection of features required for using the Cisco MDS 9500 Series and MDS 9200 Series switches in mainframe storage networks, including IBM FICON protocol, CUP management, switch cascading, fabric binding, and intermixing.
• Cisco Fabric Manager Server (FMS) Package: This package extends Cisco Fabric Manager by providing historical performance monitoring for network traffic hot-spot analysis, centralized management services, and advanced application integration.
• Cisco MDS 9000 Family Enterprise SME Package: Separate packages for the fixed slot on the Cisco MDS 9222i and for either the Cisco MDS 18/4-port Multiservice Module or the Cisco MDS 18/4-port Multiservice FIPS Module in the expansion slot enable Cisco MDS SME to secure data stored on heterogeneous tapes and VTLs.
• Cisco MDS 9000 Family Enterprise SAN Extension over IP Package: This package, for optional IP storage services-enabled modules, provides an integrated, cost-effective, and reliable business continuance solution that uses IP infrastructure by offering FCIP for remote SAN extension, along with a variety of advanced features to optimize the performance and manageability of FCIP links.
Product Specifications
Table 1 lists the product specifications for the Cisco MDS 9222i.
• Cisco MDS 9000 Family 18/4-port Multiservice Module
• Cisco MDS 9000 Family 18/4-port Multiservice FIPS Module with FIPS 140-2 Level 3 validation
• Cisco MDS 9000 Family 32-Port SSM
• Cisco MDS 9000 Family 8-Port IP Storage Services Module
Features and Functions
Fabric Services
• Name server
• Internet Storage Name Server (iSNS)
• Registered State Change Notification (RSCN)
• Login services
• Fabric Configuration Server (FCS)
• Public loop
• Broadcast
• In-order delivery
Advanced Functionality
• VSAN
• IVR
• PortChannel with multipath load balancing
• Flow-based and zone-based QoS
• Fibre Channel Congestion Control
• FCIP Tape Read and Write Acceleration
• Cisco MDS SME
Diagnostics and Troubleshooting Tools
• POST diagnostics
• Online diagnostics
• Internal port loopbacks
• SPAN and Remote SPAN (RSPAN)
• Fibre Channel Traceroute
• Fibre Channel Ping
• Fibre Channel Debug
• Cisco Fabric Analyzer
• Syslog
• Online system health
• Port-level statistics
• Real-Time Protocol (RTP) Debug
Network Security
• VSANs
• ACLs
• Per-VSAN RBAC
• Fibre Channel zoning
• N_Port World Wide Name (WWN)
• N_Port FC-ID
• Fx_Port WWN
• Fx_Port WWN and interface index
• Fx_Port domain ID and interface index
• Fx_Port domain ID and port number
• LUN
• Read-only
• Broadcast
• iSCSI zoning
• iSCSI name
• IP address
• FC-SP
• DH-CHAP switch-to-switch authentication
• DH-CHAP host-to-switch authentication
• Port security and fabric binding
• IPsec for FCIP and iSCSI
• IKEv1 and IKEv2
• Management access
• SSHv2 implementing AES
• SNMPv3 implementing AES
• SFTP
FICON
• FC-SB-3 compliant
• Cascaded FICON fabrics
• Intermix of FICON and Fibre Channel Protocol traffic
• CUP management interface
Serviceability
• Configuration file management
• ISSU for Fibre Channel interfaces
• Call Home
• Power-management LEDs
• Port beaconing
• System LED
• SNMP traps for alerts
• Network boot
Performance
• Port speed: 1/2/4-Gbps autosensing, optionally configurable
• Buffer credits: 16 per port (shared-mode ports), up to 250 per port (dedicated-mode ports), and up to 4095 on an individual port (dedicated-mode ports with optional Cisco MDS 9000 Family Enterprise Package license activated)
• Ports per chassis: 18 to 66 Fibre Channel ports and up to 12 1-Gbps Ethernet ports
• Ports per rack: Up to 980
• PortChannel: Up to 16 physical links
• FCIP tunnels: Up to 3 per port
Speed
Media
Distance
Supported Cisco Optics, Media, and Transmission Distances(4-Gbps optics modules)
