Cisco Storage Sales Specialist Exam

The Cisco Storage Sales Specialist exam validates an account manager's knowledge of the key market drivers for SAN consolidation. It also validates that the candidate is able to identify and communicate the MDS product features that differentiate the MDS product family with respect to these market drivers.

The following information provides general guidelines for the content likely to be included on the exam. However, other related topics may also appear on any specific delivery of the exam.

Explain Storage Networking and Position Support

• Describe key technologies for Storage networking
• Describe market drivers and Solutions for Cisco Storage networking products
• Identify the Cisco Storage networking Products
• Position Cisco SAN networking solutions as a component of Cisco's End to End Networking Strategy and describe its benefits
• Describe how Cisco Service and Support programs extend the value proposition
• Describe multiprotocol features of the MDS 9000 Family
• Present key software features of MDS
• Describe ISCSI protocol
• Describe FCIP protocol
• Describe ESCON/FICON

Positioning Storage Consolidation

• Explain the value of storage consolidation technology
• Identify the IT business needs and probing questions for storage consolidation
• Identify the business needs and ROI opportunities for storage consolidation
• Identify key product MDS differentiators with respect to the competition

Positioning Business Continuance

• Understand the correlation between business continuance methodologies and the application they support
• Identify the advantages of SAN Backup
• Understand Asynchronous backup strengths and limitations as well as the products that support this methodology
• Understand Synchronous backup strengths and limitations as well as the products that support this methodology

Positioning the MDS 9000 Series

• Describe MDS network services multiprotocol architecture
• Describe MDS application services architecture
• Describe VSAN
• Identify the benefits of a VSAN
• Define zoning
• Identify the limitations of zoning
• Identify the security features resulting from VSAN
• Identify the management capabilities resulting from VSAN
• Describe MDS management services architecture
• Benefit of a collapsed infrastructure
• Position consolidation and Business Continuance solution with respect to Intelligent Network Services
• Identify the characteristics of CLI in the Fabric Manager
• Identify the characteristics of GUI in the Fabric Manager

Positioning the ONS 15540, 15501, and 15530

• Identify the multiple technologies (DWDM, CWDM, FCIP, FCoSONET) used for SAN Extension and understand their limitations
• Identify the appropriate Cisco Product with the SAN Extension technology(ies) supported
• Understand FCIP as a SAN Extension solution and the Cisco Products that support it
• Understand the roles of each product in the ONS 15500 family and identify their distinguishing features
• Understand product positioning of Cisco optical products

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