Cisco expands storage switch line

What was once just a two-horse race now has three runners. Filling out its storage switch family, Cisco Systems can now compete with McData and Brocade Communications on the edge through the core of storage networks.

On Tuesday, Cisco introduced the MDS 9120 and MDS 9140, fixed-configuration switches that fill out the lower end of its MDS family. Featuring 20 and 40 ports, respectively, the two new switches also ship with a version 1.2 of Cisco’s MDS 9000 operating system.

Tom Harrington, product manager for the Cisco MDS 9000, explains the switches are for the low-end customers that need minimal connectivity.

“Customers that want to start small, but want to grow can go with the 9100 family,” said Harrington. “Both the 20 and 40 port switches share the same software as the director, meaning they can use other Cisco products to grow.”

He adds that 40 is the highest port count for this class and that the switches are targeted for the edge of the datacenter where 1U servers are often found.

Derek Granath, director of hardware products[ for Brocade, wasn’t surprised by the announcement. Explaining that the midrange switch market is the highest growth spot for switch vendors, Granath said he is eager to learn how resellers will price the new switches.

“We sell through OEMs and partners and Cisco too has adopted that model,” said Granath. “To be successful, [these new switches] must be priced competitively to other products in the market.”

He explained that Brocade does not have a 40 port switch, but has a 32 port switch and that Cisco resellers will likely elect to sell the switch at competitive price per port to Brocade’s 32 port switch.

In addition to the new OS, other features of the new switches include new security options, improved management and new tools for troubleshooting. Harrington notes that the two switches ship with an integrated fabric manager, something he says Brocade and McData sell separately for approximately $25,000.

Cisco expects partner Hewlett-Packard will begin reselling the switch in September and IBM, Hitachi Data Systems, and EMC will follow before the end of the year once the switches are qualified.