SAN Director facilitates data center consolidation.
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Press Release Summary:
Designated SilkWorm FR4-18i Blade for SilkWorm 48000 Director, and SilkWorm 7500 Switch for standalone unit, platforms combine 4 Gbit/sec SAN routing with hardware-assisted IP traffic processing. Each provides sixteen 4 Gbit/sec Fibre Channel ports and 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports. They support fan-in of up to 8 remote sites per Gigabit Ethernet port, as well as hardware-based encryption and write acceleration.
Original Press Release:
Brocade Enhances Industry's Highest-Performance Director with Powerful Routing and Distance Extension Capabilities
New SilkWorm 48000 Enhancements Deliver Unprecedented Throughput for Data Center Consolidation, Resource Sharing, and Business Continuity Applications
SAN JOSE, Calif., March-/FirstCall/ -- Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (Brocade(R)) (NASDAQ:BRCD) today introduced powerful connectivity enhancements for its SilkWorm(R) 48000 Director, extending its position as the highest-performance Storage Area Network (SAN) director available. The new capabilities include the industry's first 4 Gbit/second SAN routing solution and a performance-enhanced implementation of Fiber Channel over IP (FCIP) that provides industry-best throughput for transmitting SAN data over long-distance IP networks. The features are integrated into an 18-port "blade" option that plugs into the 4 Gbit/sec Brocade SilkWorm 48000 Director.
The company also announced a standalone switch with the same 4 Gbit/second routing and high-performance FCIP capabilities. Brocade has released both products to its OEM Partners for immediate qualification.
Designated as the SilkWorm FR4-18i Blade for the SilkWorm 48000, and the SilkWorm 7500 Switch for the standalone unit, the new platforms combine industry-first Brocade 4 Gbit/sec SAN routing performance with hardware-assisted IP traffic processing. Each platform provides sixteen 4 Gbit/sec Fibre Channel ports and two Gigabit Ethernet ports. For distance extension applications over high-latency, low-speed links, the platforms accelerate FCIP performance using hardware-based compression and extensive buffering to deliver unprecedented throughput. The platforms also support fan-in of up to eight remote sites per Gigabit Ethernet port, as well as hardware-based encryption and write acceleration to further improve replication performance.
"Storage distance extension is a key data protection enabling technology in the storage architectures of medium- and large-scale organizations, while variations in SAN implementation call for flexibility in how these extensions are provided to network designers," said Greg Schulz, Founder and Senior Analyst of the StorageIO Group. "Brocade is raising the bar for performance with FCIP and SAN Routing, while meeting the need to deliver flexible options to its customers."
The combination of Fibre Channel routing and FCIP also is used to provide SAN isolation from WAN failures when extending SANs over distance. Brocade routing utilizes the concept of the Logical SAN (LSAN), which provides a way to securely connect groups of devices that function as a single logical SAN, without having all devices connected in a unified fabric. This approach can dramatically reduce the risk and complexity of large SANs, simplify management, provide fault isolation, and reduce disruption from events such as data migrations, storage or server consolidation, and application balancing between fabrics.
"The SilkWorm Multiprotocol Router solution that Brocade has offered since 2004 triggered a fundamental change in how SANs are designed and implemented," said Tom Buiocchi, Brocade Vice President of Worldwide Marketing and Support. "With this launch, Brocade delivers the next generation of SAN routing and distance extension on the industry's highest-performance director platform, with optimal performance regardless of the network protocol. We believe that combining routing and distance extension services will be a key strategy for building next-generation data centers."
The SilkWorm FR4-18i blade occupies one slot in the 8-slot SilkWorm 48000 Director. Engineered by Brocade for high reliability, the blade is fully integrated with the high-availability architecture of an enterprise director. The SilkWorm 7500 is a 1U height, rack-mountable or free-standing unit that also is engineered for high reliability, with two independent power supplies and hot-pluggable optical modules. Each platform operates using familiar Brocade management tools and Brocade Fabric OS(R) services.
About Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
Brocade delivers the industry's leading platforms, solutions, and services for intelligently connecting, managing, and optimizing IT resources in shared storage environments. The world's premier systems, server, and storage providers offer the Brocade SilkWorm family of Storage Area Network (SAN) connectivity platforms as the foundation for shared storage in organizations of all sizes. In addition, the Brocade Tapestry family of IT infrastructure solutions extends the ability to proactively manage and optimize application and information resources across the enterprise. Using Brocade solutions, organizations are better positioned to reduce cost, manage complexity, and satisfy business compliance requirements through optimized use and management of their IT resources. For more information, visit the Brocade Web site at www.brocade.com or contact the company at info@brocade.com.
NOTE: Brocade, the Brocade B weave logo, Fabric OS, Secure Fabric OS, and SilkWorm are registered trademarks and Tapestry is a trademark of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., in the United States and/or in other countries. FICON is a registered trademark of IBM Corporation in the United States and/or in other countries. All other brands, products, or service names are or may be trademarks or service marks of, and are used to identify, products or services of their respective owners.
