Cisco’s newly launched MDS 9710 Multilayer Director has been certified for use in networking environments that leverage QLogic’s 2600 and 8300 Series FlexSuite adapters.

The MDS 9710 is the successor of Cisco’s 9500 series SAN storage switch. It supports both file and block services and offers 24 terabits of bandwidth. QLogic’s 2600 and 8300 models are in turn so-called ‘dual-personality’ adapters that leverage the company’s I/OFlex technology to function as 4/8/16Gb Fibre Channel adapters or as 10Gb Ethernet (10GbE) CNAs.

“As customers look to upgrade network infrastructure to 10Gb Ethernet and/or 16Gb Fibre Channel, Cisco switches and QLogic FlexSuite adapters provide the performance, flexibility and reliability that enterprise IT demands,” says Wikibon Senior Analyst Stu Miniman. “Cisco switches and QLogic adapters can support FC and FCoE, enabling users to choose the best SAN solution for today with the investment protection of changing in the future.”

Miniman thinks of QLogic as an arms supplier to the big whales of the IT market. He voiced his opinion in an interview he gave to SiliconAngle’s Kristen Feledy shortly after the company launched FabricCache, the first product based on its groundbreaking Mt. Rainer technology. Miniman predicted that the vendor will eventually implement the caching solution in an Ethernet product, and stressed the importance of the channel for QLogic. The latter can be also be said for Cisco.

Last month, flash solutions provider Nimble Storage released private cloud reference architecture for Microsoft users. The Nimble Storage SmartStack for Private Cloud with Cisco features a 3U Nimble Box and networking gear from the latte vendor, including the firm’s UCS C220 M3 rack servers, two UCS fabric extenders and a pair of fabric interconnects. The blueprint is designed for Microsoft Windows Server 2012.