3/14/2005 -- Also last week at CeBIT, Cisco announced several new updates for its network-based storage virtualization stack.

The networking giant positioned these updates as crucial for the emergence of a new kind of application, dubbed Intelligent Fabric Application, which is enabled by open standards like the Fabric Application Interface Standard (FAIS).

To that end, Cisco announced its new MDS 9000 Storage Services Module and MDS 9000 SAN-OS 2.1 software release, both of which boast support for the technologies which enable Cisco’s Intelligent Fabric Applications vision.

The new MDS 9000 Storage Services Module is a 32-port Fibre Channel line card that’s able to operate on any modular Cisco MDS 9000 platform, while SAN-OS 2.1 is the latest version of the MDS 9000’s operating environment. The revamped release of SAN-OS includes a variety of features designed to enhance the interoperability of that product with third-party storage software.

In this respect, says Steven Schuchart, an analyst with consultancy Current Analysis Inc., Cisco’s new MDS deliverables more than delivers the goods.

“[I]t adds considerable value to the MDS 9000 platform by providing storage services from third-party vendors at the core of the SAN,” Schuchart writes. “[T]hese products allow Cisco to fulfill its promise of network-centric SAN applications and increase the value of its MDS 9000 SAN switch by centralizing those services such as storage.”

Cisco currently leads the market in application modules for switches, says Schuchart, and this latest announcement underscores why that’s the case.

“[T]his move allows partners Veritas and EMC to put their virtualization services on the core SAN switch, eliminating the need for host-based virtualization or a separate appliance,” he explains. “Network-based virtualization solutions have an advantage over most other in-band virtualization methods because it does not bottleneck based on the number of ports available.”

Cisco’s support for FAIS gives it a competitive leg-up with other ISVs, too. “By providing a FAIS pre-standard based solution, Cisco is gaining the ability to have many third-party vendors port their SAN application to the Storage Services Module,” he notes. “By being first, even before the FAIS standard is fully approved, Cisco is at the leading edge of network-based services. This is in line with the strategy that they have successfully practiced in other products such as the Catalyst 6500 with its IDS and firewall modules.” -Stephen Swoyer