Storage On The Backburner For Cisco’s Data Center

Cisco’s core data center and networking fabric strategy, the Nexus switch, reported today that they will not be supporting storage customers for the coming months.

Nexus is going to be the worlds fastest and densest Ethernet switch, and will start up with 1- and 10-Gbit/s Ethernet connectivity. It will also support protocols like iSCSI which require TCP/IP-related support. With a new operating system, Nexus is going to merge multiple traffic types into one single “virtualized control plane” with a range of traffic management, service quality, and security capabilities.

Cisco is claiming an impressive startup for Nexus, with a 7000 platform which will include a 10-slot chassis capable of supporting both 256 10-Gbit/s Ethernet ports and 384 1-Gbit/s ports. Cisco is saying that throughput rates will reach 15 Tbit/s and plan to add an 18-slot chassis capable of 512 10-Gbit/s ports or 768 1-Gbit/s ports within half a year.

Cisco has cautioned, however, that there remains a wait on high speed capabilities for SAN’s.