IBM Tape Solutions for Storage Area Networks and FICON

54 IBM Tape Solutions for Storage Area Networks and FICON

Based upon the same next-generation switching technology used in the IBM TotalStorage

SAN Switch F16 and F08, this switch supports 1 Gbps and 2 Gbps auto-sensing ports as well

as advanced fabric services that can simplify the design, administration and management of

enterprise SANs. It is designed to provide investment protection to existing customers by

being fully backwards-compatible with existing SAN Switches S08, S16, F08, and F16.

High availability features include a fully redundant design and hot-swappable components.

IBM is the first storage provider to offer end-to-end 2 Gbps solutions designed to exploit

next-generation switching technology. Because these end-to-end solutions are up to twice as

powerful as previous solutions, they can help reduce the total cost of ownership, simplify SAN

management and enable more scalable, larger enterprise SANs.

Figure 3-6 IBM TotalStorage SAN Switch M12

3.7.1 M12 description

Availability, scalability, and performance are the key attributes required by today’s open

systems customers. The M12 Switch is designed to use such high availability features as:

򐂰 Redundant, hot-pluggable components

򐂰 Dual-redundant control processors (active/standby)

򐂰 Redundant power (four power supplies, two redundant)

򐂰 Redundant cooling (three fans, one redundant)

Chapter 3. SAN building blocks 55

򐂰 Automatic path rerouting

򐂰 Non-disruptive software upgrades

The IBM TotalStorage SAN Switch M12is designed to support up to eight, 16-port Fibre

Channel modules (blades) enabling 128 universal (E,F, and FL), full duplex, auto-sensing

ports in a single 14U enclosure, each port capable of self-negotiation to the highest speed

supported by the attached SAN infrastructure. The M12 is available in configurations of a

32-port switch, a 64-port switch, or two 64-port switches in a single, 14U rack mountable

enclosure. When combined with IBM TotalStorage SAN Switch F16s, S16s and S08s, it is

designed to provide a highly scalable core/edge fabric required by our largest enterprise

storage customers.

The M12 Switch is designed for high performance, with full duplex, 1 Gbps throughput on

each Fibre Channel port. Distances up to 10 km are supported using longwave laser

transceivers with 9.0u fiber cables. Shortwave laser transceivers support distances up to

500m at 1 Gbps and up to 300m at 2 Gbps with 50.0u fiber cables.

The standard features of the M12 Switch include:

򐂰 Rack-mount chassis

򐂰 Four power supplies (two redundant) with four rack PDU power cables

򐂰 Three fans (one redundant)

򐂰 Two control processors (active/standby, with automatic failover)

򐂰 Two 16-port 2 Gbps switch blades provide a single 32-port switch

򐂰 Performance Monitoring tools for measuring end-to-end activities.

򐂰 ISL-Trunking with up to four links, and up to 8 Gbps bandwidth

򐂰 Advanced fabric services provided by Fabric OS Version 4.0, IBM SAN Switch Specialist,

Advanced Zoning and Fabric Watch

The M12 has several selectable options. The Core Fabric Switch includes two 16-port switch

blades with the option of either shortwave or longwave SFP optical transceivers and space for

up to six additional 16-port switch blades. A mixture of shortwave and longwave SFP optical

transceivers may be ordered with a minimum of 32 and either 64 or 128 SFP transceivers to

completely populate all switch blades.

The M12 Switch requires fiber optic cables for connection to the host systems, and storage

systems or devices. These cables can be customer supplied, or ordered with the switch.

Additional features available for the M12 Switch include:

򐂰 Shortwave SFP transceiver: Provides shortwave optical transceiver for SFP LC media.

򐂰 Longwave SFP transceiver: Provides longwave optical transceiver for SFP LC media.

򐂰 64-port Upgrade: Provides two additional switch blades to create a single 64-port switch.

򐂰 128-Port Upgrade: Provides six additional switch blades to create two 64-port switches.

򐂰 Fabric Manager 3.0: Provides a Java™-based application that can simplify management

of a multiple switch fabric. IBM SAN Switch Specialist and Fabric Manager run on the

same management server attached to any switch in the core/edge fabric. It may also

manage up to eight fabrics. It requires a Windows NT/2K or Solaris 7 server with a

Netscape or Internet Explorer Web browser.

򐂰 Extended Fabric Activation: Provides license key to optimize management of the

internal switch buffers to maintain performance on interswitch links at distances greater

than 10 kilometers, and up to 70 kilometers using selected fiber cable extension

mechanisms.

򐂰 Remote Switch Activation: Provides a license key to enable the interconnection of two

SAN Switches with a pair of CNT Open System Gateways across an asynchronous

transfer mode (ATM) wide area network (WAN).