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Storage Enterprise Assurance Lab (SEAL)

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SEAL Overview

Learn about interoperability matrices and best practices for Fiber Channel and Fiber Channel over Ethernet deployments. (4:31 min)

SEAL Overview

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With so many new developments in storage networking, including Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), you may be concerned about compatibility. It is not enough to know how everything works; you want to know how everything works together.

The Cisco Storage Enterprise Assurance Lab (SEAL) can give you the confidence to deploy Fibre Channel (FC) and FCoE in your network environment, using tested, validated designs.

As the world leader in storage networking, Cisco can address your compatibility concerns faster and more thoroughly. Through SEAL and the Data Center Assurance Program (DCAP), you will get answers to these questions about storage networking technologies:

  • Will they work with my existing equipment?
  • Will they work with other equipment that I want to get?
  • Will they work with other vendors' equipment?

Featured Products

Cisco MDS 9000 Series Multilayer Switches

Cisco MDS 9000 Series Multilayer Switches

Build highly available, scalable storage networks with advanced security and unified management.

Cisco Nexus 7000 Series

These modular switches deliver 10 Gigabit Ethernet and unified fabric to your mission-critical data center.

Cisco Nexus 5000 Series

Cisco Nexus 5000 Series

Support I/O consolidation at the rack level through FCoE with the first open-standards-based access-layer switch.

SEAL is the certification program for FC and FCoE devices. The new certification matrix for Data Center Storage Networking (DCSN) , SEAL tests and certifies end-to-end solutions, including Converged Network Adapters (CNAs), Cisco Nexus and MDS switches, Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS), and storage targets.

The Cisco SEAL program is composed of two main elements:

  • Cisco certification of storage-related equipment
  • Cisco Certification Request for additional equipment

SEAL provides you with the tools to plan for storage networks, including interoperability matrices for FC and FCoE equipment. In particular, SEAL and the Data Center Assurance Program (DCAP) offer:

  • Cisco validated designs, with access to test plans and results
  • Multivendor FCoE interoperability tests
  • Recommended software versions
  • Third-party network management, multipath, and backup applications
  • Supported host operating systems and hardware, as well as storage disk and tape arrays
Featured Content

Interoperability Matrices
View components and configurations supported for transparent deployment of fabrics using Cisco storage networking products.

Data Center Designs: Storage Network
Find guidance and best practices for designing your data center storage network.

Data Center Assurance Program
Access design, deployment, and implementation guidance and assistance to develop a data center network and application infrastructure.