Cost-effective iSCSI connectivity to Ethernet -attached servers:  Extends the benefits of Fibre Channel SAN-based storage to Ethernet-attached servers at a lower  o cost than is possible by using Fibre Channel interconnect alone. Increases storage usage and availability through consolidation of IP and Fibre Channel block  o storage. Through transparent operation, it preserves the capability of existing storage management  o applications. Advanced FICON services : The SAN50C-R supports FICON environments, including cascaded   FICON fabrics, VSAN-enabled intermix of mainframe and open systems environments, and N Port ID  Virtualization (NPIV) for mainframe Linux partitions. IBM Control Unit Port (CUP) support enables  in-band management of IBM Storage Networking c-type switches from the mainframe management  console.  Platform for intelligent fabric applications : The SAN50C-R switch provides an open platform that   delivers the intelligence and advanced features that are required to make multilayer intelligent SANs a  reality, including hardware-enabled innovations to host or accelerate applications for data migration,  storage backup, and data replication. Hosting or accelerating these applications in the network can  dramatically improve scalability, availability, security, and manageability of the storage environment,  resulting in increased utility and lower TCO. In Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) for Fibre Channel interfaces : The SAN50C-R switch promotes   high serviceability by enabling NX-OS Software to be upgraded while the Fibre Channel ports are  carrying traffic. Intelligent network services : The SAN50C-R switch uses VSAN technology for hardware-enforced,   isolated environments within a single physical fabric, access control lists (ACLs) for hardware-based  intelligent frame processing, and advanced traffic management features such as fabric-wide quality of  service (QoS) to facilitate migration from SAN islands to enterprise-wide storage networks. High-performance ISLs: The SAN50C-R switch supports up to 16 Fibre Channel ISLs in a single   PortChannel. Links can span any port on any module in a chassis for added scalability and resilience.  Up to 253 buffer-to-buffer credits can be assigned to a single Fibre Channel port to extend storage  networks over long distances. Comprehensive network security framework : The SAN50C-R switch supports RADIUS and   TACACS+, Fibre Channel Security Protocol (FC-SP), Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), Secure  Shell (SSH) Protocol, Simple Network Management Protocol Version 3 (SNMPv3) implementing  Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), VSANs, hardware-enforced zoning, ACLs, and per-VSAN  role-based access control (RBAC). Additionally, the 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports offer IP Security  (IPSec) authentication, data integrity, and hardware-assisted data encryption for FCIP and iSCSI. IP Version 6 (IPv6) capable: The SAN50C-R switch supports IPv6 as mandated by the US   Department of Defense (DoD), Japan, and China. IPv6 support is provided for FCIP, iSCSI, and  management traffic routed inband and out of band. Sophisticated diagnostic tests : The SAN50C-R switch provides intelligent diagnostic tests, protocol   decoding, and network analysis tools, and integrated IBM Call Home capability for added reliability,  faster problem resolution, and reduced service costs. FICON tape acceleration reduces latency effects for FICON channel extension over FCIP for FICON  tape read and write operations to mainframe physical or virtual tape. This feature is sometimes  referred to as tape pipelining. 3 IBM Storage Networking SAN50C-R Product Guide