Blade Switches

Comprehensive Blade Server I/O Solutions

Cisco Blade Switches deliver blade server network services that extend from the blade server edge to clients at the network edge.

These purpose-built I/O solutions for Dell, FSC, HP, and IBM blade servers let you deploy a virtualized data center infrastructure. Among many other benefits, they can help you lower total cost of ownership as well as improve both end-user and IT productivity.

The Cisco Blade Switches family includes:

• Cisco Catalyst Ethernet blade switches
• Cisco MDS Fibre Channel blade switches

Advantages of Cisco Data Center Business Advantage solutions delivered through Cisco Blade Switches include:

Easy to operate and deploy

• Virtual blade switch technology reduces the number of switches to manage
• Management interface and troubleshooting tools are consistent with other Cisco Data Center Business Advantage products
• Simplified SAN switch management and scalable Fibre Channel deployment with N_port virtualization (NPV)

"Server-smart"

• Resilient LAN and SAN uplinks increase blade server and virtual machine availability
• Virtual machine portability and live migration do not compromise security policies
• Intelligent congestion management mechanisms optimize network bandwidth

Flexible

• Virtual blade switch technology lets you configure network topology based on application needs
• Virtual machines stay connected to storage resources during live migration with Cisco FlexAttach
• Scalable LAN and SAN bandwidth as business needs grow
• Flexible options for configuration and management, such as a command-line interface and a GUI