Cisco MDS 9120 (DS-C9120-K9) Full Product Description

1. Short Sales Title

2. Official Product Overview

1. Total 20 SFP Fibre Channel ports split into two performance tiers: 4 dedicated full-rate target ports for high-speed disk/tape storage arrays, 16 oversubscribed host ports for server attach, optimized for mixed host/storage workload balanceCisco.
2. Compact 1RU horizontal rack form factor with front-to-back airflow, designed for edge rack SAN deployments close to server and storage hardware.
3. Fully redundant hot-swappable FRUs: dual 300W AC power supplies and dual independent fan modules, supporting OIR live replacement without SAN fabric outage.
4. Autosensing 1Gbps / 2Gbps Fibre Channel SFP ports, supporting FL/F/TL/E/TE port types for host, fabric ISL and extended distance inter-switch linksCisco.
5. Integrated multilayer storage services: VSAN segmentation, port security, fabric zoning, FICON mainframe connectivity, and SAN diagnostics, eliminating need for external service appliances for basic edge SAN policy enforcement.

Model Suffix Breakdown

• DS-C: Cisco MDS Storage Switch part number prefix
• 9120: MDS 9100 fixed fabric series, total 20 Fibre Channel SFP ports
• K9: Standard AC power SKU with base SAN-OS multilayer feature license (DS-C9120-HV-K9 is separate high-voltage DC power variant)

Chassis Port & Hardware Layout Definition

1. Front Panel Fibre Channel Ports: 20×hot-swappable SFP slots, autosensing 1/2Gbps Fibre Channel
   • Ports 1–4: Full-rate target-optimized ports (no oversubscription, for high-performance storage arrays, tape libraries, ISL backbone links)
   • Ports 5–20: Host-optimized oversubscribed ports for server, virtualization host, blade server SAN attach
2. Out-of-Band Management Interfaces:
   • RJ45 RS232 serial console port for local CLI access
   • Isolated 10/100BASE-T Ethernet out-of-band management port for remote Telnet/SSH/SNMP access
3. Front Diagnostic LED Bank: Global system status, power supply A/B, fan module, port link/activity, fault alarm, UID beacon indicator
4. Rear Compartment Layout: Dual independent hot-swappable 300W AC power supply bays + dual separate hot-swappable fan modules
5. Airflow Specification: Front-to-back cold air intake at port panel, hot exhaust from rear power supply compartment

Supported Transceivers & Power Options

1. Fibre Channel SFP transceivers (sold separately):
   • DS-SFP-FC-2G-SW: Short-wave 500m multimode 1/2G FC
   • DS-SFP-FC-2G-LW: Long-wave 10km single-mode 1/2G FC
2. Power supply compatibility: Only 300W AC PSUs supported for DS-C9120-K9; HV DC power supplies exclusive to DS-C9120-HV-K9 variant, non-interchangeable
3. No Ethernet downlink ports; purpose-built exclusively for Fibre Channel SAN storage workloads

3. Hardware & Physical Specifications

Core SAN Switching Performance

• Total system shared fabric bandwidth: 20 Gbps aggregate capacity
• Wire-speed forwarding rate: Up to 20 Mpps Fibre Channel frame switching
• Dynamic shared packet buffer pool optimized for block storage read/write burst traffic
• MAC/FC address table capacity: 64,000 FC N_Port identifiers
• Maximum VSANs: 4094 isolated virtual storage fabrics
• Maximum active zone sets: 256 zone sets, up to 2000 zones per fabric
• Jumbo frame support: Up to 9000 byte Fibre Channel frame MTU
• Port modes supported: F (Fabric host), FL (Loop), TL (Extended Loop), E (ISL), TE (Extended ISL)
• Link aggregation: PortChannel for multi-port ISL trunking (max 8 FC ports per logical bundle)

Power & Cooling System

• Power supply bays: 2 hot-swappable redundant slots delivering 1+1 N+1 power failover protection, each 300W PSU fully powers entire chassis independently
• AC input voltage range: 100–240V 50/60Hz universal AC
• Fan modules: Two separate hot-swappable multi-fan assemblies, single fan module failure triggers SNMP alert without SAN traffic outage
• Airflow direction: Front-to-back cold aisle intake, rear hot exhaust
• Real-time monitoring: Fan RPM, internal chassis temperature, PSU voltage, SFP transceiver and port fault logging via console syslog and SNMP v1/v2c/v3 traps

Physical & Environmental Parameters

• Rack form factor: 1 RU standard 19-inch horizontal rack mount
• Dimensions (H × W × D): 4.45 cm × 43.69 cm × 58.67 cm (1.75 × 17.2 × 23.1 inches; 71.37cm depth with cable management guide)Cisco
• Bare chassis weight: 9.07 kg (20 lbs) without power supplies/fan modules; fully loaded max weight 11.34 kg (25 lbs) with dual PSUs and dual fan trays installedCisco
• Operating temperature range: 0°C to 40°C (32°F–104°F); certified altitude up to 3000 meters
• Storage temperature range: -40°C to 75°C (-40°F–167°F)
• Relative humidity: 10%–90% non-condensing operating; 5%–95% non-condensing storage
• Compliance Certifications: FCC Class A, UL 60950-1, CE, VCCI Class A, NEBS Level 3, RoHS compliant

4. Full SAN-OS Multilayer Feature Set (Cisco SAN-OS Release 1.x / 2.x)

Layer 2 Fibre Channel Switching & Fabric Services

• VSAN Virtual Storage Area Network: Logical fabric isolation for multi-tenant, multi-application storage segmentation
• Port zoning: Hard zoning (port-based) and soft zoning (WWN-based) for access control between servers and storage
• IEEE FC-BB Fibre Channel bridging, FICON support for IBM mainframe storage connectivity
• Inter-Switch Link (ISL) trunking, PortChannel load balancing across multiple FC ports
• DTP Fibre Channel trunk negotiation, fabric domain ID management, fabric reconfiguration (FSPF) routing protocol
• Local SPAN, RSPAN remote SAN traffic mirroring for storage performance troubleshooting
• Broadcast/multicast storm suppression per FC port to eliminate storage fabric flooding

Multilayer Storage Routing & Multicast Features

• FSPF Fibre Channel shortest path first dynamic fabric routing for multi-switch SAN topologies
• PIM-SM IP multicast for SAN replication backup traffic
• Static FC route configuration for cross-VSAN inter-fabric connectivity
• IVR Inter-VSAN Routing licensed feature for controlled data movement between isolated VSANs

Advanced SAN QoS & Traffic Prioritization

• Four hardware priority queues per Fibre Channel port for tiered storage traffic classification
• Ingress frame policing, egress bandwidth shaping for backup/replication traffic throttling
• Pre-built QoS templates for mission-critical production I/O, backup tape, and disaster recovery replication streams
• Dedicated high-priority queue for low-latency database and OLTP storage workloads

Enterprise SAN Security Suite

• Port security: Static WWN locking to restrict unauthorized server/storage device attach
• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) granular CLI user privilege partitioning
• SSHv2 encrypted CLI remote management, SNMPv3 secure monitoring, encrypted startup configuration files
• Fabric authentication: DH-CHAP mutual authentication for ISL inter-switch links
• Port lockdown, VSAN read-only access permissions, audit logging for all fabric configuration changes
• Integrated support for external MDS Storage Services Module (SSM) encryption and replication

Monitoring & SAN Management Tools

• Cisco Fabric Manager centralized graphical SAN fabric monitoring and provisioning
• Dedicated out-of-band Ethernet management port for offline device access during fabric outages
• Onboard flash storage for SAN-OS image upgrades and configuration backup archives
• Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) automatic MDS fabric neighbor device discovery
• Real-time storage telemetry: Port throughput, latency, frame error counters, SFP optical power diagnostics
• Event notification via email, syslog and SNMP traps for fabric fault alerting

5. High Availability Capabilities

1. Dual hot-swappable redundant 300W AC power supplies (1+1 power failover, single PSU fully operational under full port load)
2. Dual independent hot-swappable fan modules with individual fault detection and real-time SNMP alerting
3. Full OIR Online Insertion and Removal support for fan modules, power supplies and SFP transceivers; live FRU replacement without chassis power shutdown or SAN traffic drop
4. VSAN fabric isolation limits fault domains to single virtual storage segment, preventing fabric-wide broadcast storms
5. FSPF dynamic routing automatic failover to alternate ISL paths with sub-second convergence
6. Limitation: Fixed oversubscribed port architecture creates host-side bandwidth bottlenecks for ultra-high-density all-storage deployments; no modular port card expandability like MDS 9200/9500 series

6. Typical Deployment Scenarios

1. Small Enterprise Edge Rack SAN Switch
   Compact 1RU form factor fits standard server rack edge positions; 4 full-rate target ports connect primary disk storage arrays, 16 host ports attach application servers and virtualization hosts, delivering isolated VSAN fabrics for production, test and backup storage environments.
2. Medium Enterprise Multi-Floor Building Storage Distribution Aggregation
   Multiple DS-C9120-K9 switches deployed per floor rack, interconnected via high-speed ISL trunk links to central MDS 9500 core director, consolidating distributed server storage traffic into a unified enterprise-wide SAN fabric.
3. Regional Mission-Critical Branch Office Disaster Recovery SAN
   Financial, healthcare and government remote branch storage deployments require full dual power + fan redundancy to avoid backup tape library and database storage outages; integrated FICON support enables mainframe DR replication workflows.
4. Small Service Provider Multi-Tenant PoP Storage Edge
   VSAN isolation feature enables logical separation of multiple customer storage environments on a single physical MDS 9120 switch, reducing hardware TCO for small carrier PoP edge storage workloads.
5. Legacy MDS 9000 Series Hardware Replacement
   Drop-in upgrade for aging MDS 9100 first-generation fixed fabric switches, fully backward compatible with existing Fibre Channel SFP transceivers and unified SAN-OS management workflows with MDS 9200/9500 core directors.

7. Standard Package Contents

Items Sold Separately (Not Included)

• Dual 300W AC hot-swappable redundant power supply units
• Dual hot-swappable fan modules
• DS-SFP-FC-2G-SW / DS-SFP-FC-2G-LW Fibre Channel SFP optical transceivers
• RS232 serial console rollover cable
• Fibre channel patch cords, cable management accessories, rack cable guides

Short Commercial Catalog Version (For Quotation & Datasheet Use)