Cisco DS-X97-SF3-K9 (Market Alias DS-9700-SUP2-K9) Full English Product Description
1. Short Official Part & License Label
DS-X97-SF3-K9 (Commonly referenced as DS-9700-SUP2-K9): Cisco MDS 9700 Series Supervisor-3 Hot-Swappable Control Processor Module, Next-Generation Director Supervisor for MDS 9706 / MDS 9710 / MDS 9718 Multilayer SAN Directors, Runs Cisco NX-OS, Supports Fabric-1 / Fabric-3 Crossbar Modules, Enhanced CPU/Memory, Stateful Active/Standby Failover, Nondisruptive Software Upgrade (ISSU), Multiprotocol Fibre Channel & FCoE Storage Networking, Secure Boot, Active Supported Mid-Generation MDS 9700 Supervisor
2. Full Product Overview
The Cisco MDS 9700 Supervisor-3 Module (DS-X97-SF3-K9) is the upgraded control-plane supervisor hardware for the Cisco MDS 9700 family of multilayer SAN directors, succeeding the Supervisor-1 (DS-X97-SF1-K9) and Supervisor-1E models. It serves as the central management, fabric arbitration, and control-plane engine for MDS 9706 (6-slot), MDS 9710 (10-slot), and MDS 9718 (18-slot) datacenter storage directors.
For production high availability, deploy two Supervisor-3 modules in active/standby redundancy. It maintains full state synchronization of VSAN databases, zoning, FSPF routing tables, name server entries, and active sessions, enabling stateful failover with minimal SAN traffic interruption. The module runs Cisco MDS NX-OS and supports both legacy Fabric-1 and newer Fabric-3 crossbar switching modules, compatible with 16G/32G/64G Fibre Channel and 10G/40G FCoE line cards.
Hardware improvements over Supervisor-1 include higher-performance multi-core processors, increased system memory, larger onboard SSD storage, and UEFI Secure Boot to restrict booting to Cisco-signed NX-OS images. It supports maximum system bandwidth:
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MDS 9706: Up to 12 Tbps non-blocking switching capacity
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MDS 9710: Up to 24 Tbps non-blocking switching capacity
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MDS 9718: Up to 48 Tbps non-blocking switching capacity
Lifecycle Status: DS-X97-SF3-K9 remains actively supported. Supported NX-OS releases span 8.x through modern 9.x code trains. Its successor is the Supervisor-4 (DS-X97-SF4-K9). Software licensing is chassis-based and independent of supervisor hardware.
Key Differentiator vs DS-X97-SF1-K9: Higher compute and memory, Secure Boot, broader chassis compatibility (supports MDS 9718 without requiring 1E), native compatibility with Fabric-3 crossbars for 64G FC line cards. Compared to Supervisor-4: Predecessor generation without optimized 64G FC control-plane acceleration and expanded scale limits.
3. Complete Hardware Physical & Interface Specifications
Form Factor & Mechanical
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Form Factor: Hot-swappable half-width plug-in supervisor module for MDS 9700 director supervisor slots
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Dimensions: 5.18 cm (H) × 20.49 cm (W) × 59.69 cm (D) / 2.04 × 8.07 × 23.5 in
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Unit Weight: 3.5 kg (7.7 lbs)
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Hot Swap: Fully hot-swappable without chassis power shutdown
Front Panel Interface Layout
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1× RJ45 10/100/1000BASE-T Out-of-Band Management Port
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1× RJ45 RS‑232 Serial Console Port for local CLI access and recovery
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2× USB Type‑A ports for OS image uploads, configuration backup, diagnostics
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LED Status Array: Power, Active/Standby, System Health, Critical Fault, Module Status
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Hardware reset pushbutton for supervisor restart
Power & Environmental Parameters
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Typical Power Consumption: 130 W
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Operating Temperature: 0°C to 40°C (32°F to 104°F)
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Storage Temperature: -40°C to 70°C (-40°F to 158°F)
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Operating Humidity: 10%–90% non-condensing RH
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Regulatory Certifications: UL 60950‑1, CE, FCC Class A EMC
Base Hardware Resources
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Multi-core enhanced control processor
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System Memory: 16 GB DDR4 RAM
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Onboard SSD storage for NX-OS boot images, logging, crash diagnostics
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Firmware Security: UEFI Secure Boot, only Cisco signed MDS NX-OS images permitted
Supported Chassis & Fabric Modules
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Supported Chassis: MDS 9706 (DS-C9706), MDS 9710 (DS-C9710), MDS 9718 (DS-C9718)
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Supported Fabric Modules: Fabric-1 (FAB1) and Fabric-3 (FAB3) crossbar modules
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Supported Line Cards: All MDS 9700 FC / FCoE switching modules compatible with Fabric-1 / Fabric-3 infrastructure
4. Core NX-OS Storage Networking Feature Suite
1. Chassis & Fabric Orchestration
Monitor all line cards, fabric modules, fans, power supplies; crossbar arbitration, fabric error detection, chassis event logging, online diagnostics.
2. Fibre Channel Control Plane
FSPF dynamic routing, Fibre Channel Name Server, RSCN notification services, login management, fabric configuration server, in-order delivery support.
3. VSAN Virtualization & Segmentation
Virtual Storage Area Networks (VSANs), Inter-VSAN Routing (IVR), hard/soft zoning, device aliases, zone merge control, persistent zoning databases.
4. Multiprotocol SAN Services
Native Fibre Channel, FCoE (Fibre Channel over Ethernet), FCIP for long-distance SAN extension, NPIV N-Port ID Virtualization.
5. High Availability Capabilities
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Active/Standby dual supervisor deployment
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Stateful process restart and stateful failover
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Nondisruptive In-Service Software Upgrade (ISSU)
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Graceful restart for control-plane protocols
6. SAN Security Framework
FC-SP Fibre Channel authentication, port security, VSAN ACLs, RBAC access control, TACACS+/RADIUS AAA, SSHv2, SFTP, centralized audit logging.
7. Traffic Management & Troubleshooting
Flow-aware QoS, slow-drain congestion detection, Fibre Channel SPAN, FC ping / traceroute, real-time port statistics, RMON monitoring.
8. Management & Automation
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Local CLI over serial console / SSH
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Embedded HTML5 web GUI
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Centralized management via Cisco DCNM (Data Center Network Manager)
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SNMPv3, XML APIs for integration with monitoring and orchestration platforms
5. Typical Deployment Scenarios
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Redundant active/standby control-plane supervisor pair for MDS 9706 / MDS 9710 / MDS 9718 enterprise SAN directors
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Consolidated datacenter Fibre Channel SAN supporting virtualized servers, database storage and backup infrastructure
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Multi-site SAN architectures utilizing FCIP SAN extension and IVR inter-VSAN routing
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Mid-life hardware refresh upgrading legacy Supervisor-1 deployments
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Converged SAN environments mixing 32G and 64G Fibre Channel workloads using Fabric-3 crossbar modules
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Pre-migration platform before upgrading to flagship Supervisor-4 hardware
6. Short Sales Listing Tagline
Cisco DS-X97-SF3-K9 (DS-9700-SUP2-K9) Hot-Swappable MDS 9700 Supervisor-3 Control Module, Compatible with MDS 9706 / MDS 9710 / MDS 9718 Multilayer SAN Directors, Runs Cisco NX-OS, Supports Fabric-1 & Fabric-3 Crossbar Modules, Enhanced CPU/Memory with UEFI Secure Boot, Stateful Active/Standby Failover, ISSU Nondisruptive Upgrades, VSAN Zoning, FCoE & FCIP Multiprotocol SAN Services, Managed via CLI and DCNM, Supported Mid-Generation Supervisor for Enterprise Datacenter Fibre Channel Storage Networks
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