Main Features | High Performance and Flexibility at Lower Cost

Up to 96 autosensing Fibre Channel ports are capable of speeds of 2, 4, 8, 10, and 16 Gbps, with 16 Gbps of dedicated bandwidth for each port. The base switch model comes with 48 or 96 ports enabled. The 48-port base model can be upgraded as needed with the 12-port Cisco MDS 9396S On-Demand Port Activation license to also support configurations of 60, 72, 84, and 96 enabled ports. Only the Cisco MDS 9396S scales from 48 to 96 high-performance Fibre Channel ports in a 2RU compact form factor. The Cisco MDS 9396S switch is a high-end fabric switch. It offers more buffer-to-buffer credits than the previous generation fabric switches and also supports a much greater number of VSANs, making it an excellent choice for standalone small and midsize business (SMB) Fibre Channel networks. The 16-Gbps MDS 9396S is the first generation of NVMe over Fibre Channel ready 2RU switches1. When deployed as an N-Port virtualization (NPV) node or as an N-Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) core connecting legacy Fibre channel switches or multi-protocol Nexus NPV switches, it provides a flexible and scalable option for host connectivity.

High-Availability Platform for Mission-Critical Deployments

In environments in which downtime is intolerable, the Cisco MDS 9396S offers In-Service Software Upgrades (ISSU). With this feature, Cisco NX-OS Software can be upgraded while the Fibre Channel ports carry traffic. The Cisco MDS 9396S includes dual redundant hot-swappable power supplies and fan trays, PortChannels for Inter-Switch Link (ISL) resiliency, and F-port channeling for resiliency on uplinks from a Cisco MDS 9396S operating in N-Port Virtualization (NPV) mode. New hardware-based slow-port detection and recovery provide enhanced performance and monitoring capabilities.

Simplified Storage Management with Sophisticated Diagnostics

The Cisco MDS 9396S offers built-in storage network management and SAN plug-and-play capabilities. All features are available through a Command-Line Interface (CLI) or Cisco Prime DCNM for SAN Essentials Edition, a centralized management tool. Cisco DCNM task-based wizards simplify management of single or multiple switches and fabrics. For virtual infrastructure, it manages the entire path: from the virtual machine and switch to the physical storage. The Cisco MDS 9396S also supports Power On Auto Provisioning (POAP) to automate software image upgrades and configuration file installation on newly deployed switches. Additionally, it provides intelligent diagnostics, protocol decoding, network analysis tools, and Cisco Call Home for added reliability, faster problem resolution, and reduced service costs.

Intelligent Network Services and Advanced Traffic Management

The Cisco MDS 9396S uses virtual SAN (VSAN) technology for hardware-enforced, isolated environments within a physical fabric. It offers Access Control Lists (ACLs) for hardware-based, intelligent frame processing. Advanced traffic management features, such as fabricwide quality of service (QoS) and Inter-VSAN Routing (IVR), are included in the optional Cisco MDS 9000 Family Enterprise Package. QoS prioritizes application data traffic for better and more predictable network service. Zone-based QoS simplifies configuration and administration by using the familiar zoning concept. IVR facilitates resource sharing across VSANs without compromising scalability, reliability, availability, or network security.