Fabric Manager Server is a platform for advanced MDS monitoring, troubleshooting, and configuration capabilities. No additional software needs to be installed. The server capabilities are an integral part of the Cisco Fabric Manager software.

Install Cisco Fabric Manager Server on a computer that you want to provide centralized MDS management services and performance monitoring. SNMP operations are used to efficiently collect fabric information.

Each computer configured as a Cisco Fabric Manager Server can monitor multiple Fiber Channel SAN fabrics. The Cisco Fabric Manager clients can connect directly to an MDS switch in fabrics that are not monitored by a Cisco Fabric Manager Server, which ensures you can manage any of your MDS devices from a single console.