Flexible, Scalable, and Modular Operating System

Cisco MDS 9000 NX-OS Software powers Cisco MDS 9000 Series Multilayer Switches. It is designed to create a strategic SAN platform with superior reliability, performance, scalability, and features. Formerly known as Cisco SAN-OS, Cisco MDS 9000 NX-OS Software is fully interoperable with earlier Cisco SAN-OS versions and enhances hardware platform and module support.

Cisco MDS 9000 NX-OS Software Release 4.1 CIS-77676

Video Data Sheet

Learn more about Cisco MDS 9000 NX-OS Software Release 4.1. (6:59 min)

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Advantages of Cisco MDS 9000 NX-OS Software include:

• Flexibility and scalability: It provides a highly flexible and scalable platform for enterprise SANs.
• Consistency across platforms: The Cisco Nexus Family also uses Cisco NX-OS Software. This creates a software base for the eventual unification of Ethernet, storage, and high-performance computing networks.
• Reduced total cost of ownership (TCO): Integrated fabric applications, security, and ease of management help to lower your TCO and deliver a quick return on investment.

The software's essential features include:

• Virtual SAN (VSAN) capability: Can logically separate a large physical fabric into isolated environments to improve Fibre Channel SAN scalability, availability, manageability, and network security
• End-to-end virtualization and mobility: Simplifies deployment, mobility, and management of virtual machines, VSAN fabrics, blade servers, and virtualized storage devices
• Integrated fabric application: Delivers network-based storage applications and services such as virtualization, security, continuous data protection, data migration, and replication
• Security and compliance: Helps preserve the integrity and confidentiality of Fibre Channel traffic between modular switches within a data center or across metropolitan-area networks through Fibre Channel Link Encryption