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IBM deal boosts Cisco storage gear

Big Blue has signed a deal to sell a new line of storage networking gear from Cisco Systems, the companies are expected to announce.

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Stephen Shankland principal writer
Stephen Shankland has been a reporter at CNET since 1998 and writes about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
Expertise processors, semiconductors, web browsers, quantum computing, supercomputers, AI, 3D printing, drones, computer science, physics, programming, materials science, USB, UWB, Android, digital photography, science Credentials
  • I've been covering the technology industry for 24 years and was a science writer for five years before that. I've got deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and other dee
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Stephen Shankland
IBM has signed a deal to sell a new line of storage networking gear from Cisco Systems, the companies plan to announce Tuesday.

IBM will sell Cisco's MDS 9000 line of high-end switches, which connect storage systems to servers in special-purpose "storage area networks" (SANs) separate from usual computer networks. The deal is a boost for the freshly introduced Cisco products, which take on equipment from rivals better established in the storage networking market.

The Cisco switch, like models from competitors including Brocade Communications, McData and Inrange Technologies, is certified to work with IBM's Enterprise Storage System ("Shark"), its midrange FastT systems and its tape systems.

Most of Cisco's business is tied to networking equipment that uses TCP/IP networking, the technology the Internet uses. But through its acquisition of Andiamo, Cisco obtained high-end networking products that can use the Fibre Channel networking standard used in SANs (storage area networks) .

Cisco's New Venture Group initially set up Andiamo, recruiting Cisco and other employees in 2000. The company acquired Andiamo in August 2002.