Brocade extends data centre performance

Brocade, a leader in data centre networking solutions that help enterprises connect and manage their information, has announced a series of data centre fabric switches and server HBAs that deliver a new level of end-to-end data centre networking performance. 

In addition, the Company announced new advanced networking capabilities across both switches and HBAs that greatly simplifies the end-to-end management of server and storage environments, including data migration and data security, in data centres.

Augmenting the industry-leading performance of the Brocade DCX Backbone and 48000 director, the new family of 8Gbit/sec fibre channel switches ranges in capacity from 8 to 80 ports, and offers the highest levels of performance in the industry.  Brocades new 8Gbit/sec HBAs also set new performance standards, and leverage Brocades technological expertise in delivering advanced capabilities for storage and data centre networks. Together, the new products offer unmatched server-to-storage connectivity and capabilities, supporting features such as fabric Quality of Service (QoS), traffic management and other Adaptive Networking services that benefit evolving data centres.

The use of server virtualisation for optimised asset utilisation and cost-effective disaster recovery is driving the need for more dynamic movement of data and applications across different physical server environments, said Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) Analyst Bob Laliberte.  QoS and flow control characteristics associated with these mobile applications need to follow the application as it moves among systems.  Brocades 8Gbit/sec switches and HBAs provide the performance levels and end-to-end adaptive networking services capabilities to address these real next-generation challenges.

According to a recent ESG survey, enterprise customers currently using server virtualisation expect to double the number of physical servers equipped for virtualisation and increase the number of virtual servers running on them by more than 150%. With this tremendous growth, data centre managers will require high performance networks with the capability to assign network services like bandwidth or priority to each guest on a virtual server.  Brocade is the first company to offer these end-to-end capabilities that extend from the application to the physical and virtual server, through the data centre fabric and to storage devices with adaptive networking capabilities.  

Brocade server-to-storage connectivity solutions are an integral component of Brocades Data Center Fabric (DCF) architecture. The Brocade DCF architecture is an open framework that allows customers to evolve their data centre infrastructures for maximum performance, flexibility, and investment protection.   As data centers become increasingly virtualised, Brocades DCF architecture and products will deliver integrated server-to-storage management to better support and manage virtual servers and applications for improved performance and uptime.

Brocades reputation as a leader in enterprise data centres is built on our track record of providing high performance, flexible, and intelligent infrastructure for todays, and tomorrows demanding business applications, said Tom Buiocchi, Brocade Vice President, Worldwide Marketing. Brocade-engineered innovation and reliability are now extended from the data centre network to server platforms for better end-to-end manageability, virtual mobility, security and performance in the data centre.

NEW Brocade Fabric Switches
The newest Brocade switches offer unmatched 8 Gbit/sec performance, doubling the throughput of previous products while also increasing power efficiency by approximately 40 percent.  The Brocade 300 Entry-Level Switch scales from 8 to 24 ports, the Brocade 5100 Switch from 24 to 48 ports, and the Brocade 5300 Enterprise Switch ranges from 48 to 80 ports.  All of the new 8 Gbit/sec switches help to protect and extend existing customer investments, as they are backward compatible with the large installed base of Brocade 1, 2 and 4 Gbit/sec SAN devices, including classic McDATA technology and products.  The new fabric switches are available now from Brocade, IBM and Sun Microsystems, and are expected to be available from all Brocade OEM partners in Brocades fiscal Q3. 

NEW Brocade HBAs
Brocades newest HBAs are designed to meet the growing performance, connectivity, and virtualisation needs of enterprise data centres.  The HBAs are architected to extend I/O performance at the server to an industry-best 500,000 IOPs (Input/Output <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Input/Output> Operations Per Second) per port, an important factor in highly virtualised environments.  They are also designed to support new Quality of Service (QoS), data mobility, and data encryption features that ensure faster and more secure communications between virtual servers and storage. In addition, Brocade is delivering a new, unified management tool that spans its new switches and HBAs to help customers simplify the management of their data centre infrastructure.  The new Brocade HBAs are expected to be generally available in June. 
More information on the new Brocade fabric switches, HBAs, and Adaptive Networking features may be found at www.brocade.com/presskit.

About Brocade
Brocade is a leading provider of data center networking solutions that help organizations connect, share, and manage their information in the most efficient manner. Organizations that use Brocade products and services are better able to optimize their IT infrastructures and ensure compliant data management. For more information, visit the Brocade Web site at www.brocade.com or contact the company at info@brocade.com.

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Brocade, Fabric OS, File Lifecycle Manager, MyView, and StorageX are registered trademarks and the Brocade B-wing symbol, DCX, and SAN Health are trademarks of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., 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.

Brocade OEM Partner/Reseller Quotes

Dell Dell is committed to providing customers optimised storage solutions for fast-growing virtualisation environments, said Praveen Asthana, Director of Enterprise Storage & Networking for Dell.  Were pleased to offer Brocade technologies that deliver advanced networking services with a performance level that better enables more dynamic virtualisation solutions.

EMC Next generation data centre requirements are driving the need for increased performance levels, said Barbara Robidoux, Vice President, EMC Storage Product Marketing. We will be able to extend 8Gbps performance from the EMC Connectrix ED-DCX-B backbone so that customers will have the necessary performance and scalability to address their future data centre network needs.

Engenio When it comes to SAN solutions, the strategic partnership between LSI and Brocade spans the product lifecycle from development to delivery, said Phil Bullinger, executive vice president, Engenio Storage Group, LSI. We will certify Brocade's 8Gb/s Fibre Channel switch and HBA products with LSIs family of Fibre Channel storage systems to enable customers to utilise these next generation solutions for increasingly demanding applications and virtual environments.

HP Customers with virtualised data centres will improve performance and management of their Storage Area Networks by teaming HP disk arrays with Brocades new family of switches, said Kyle Fitze, director of marketing, SAN StorageWorks, HP. Brocades 8Gbps switch enhance HPs SAN connectivity solutions to deliver unparalleled performance for even the most demanding storage environments by simplifying installation, management and storage provisioning.

Hitachi Data Systems As data and information growth continues to escalate, data center managers must ensure that their infrastructures can support the resulting performance, scalability and reliability demands on their storage environments, said Peter Smails, senior director, global product marketing, Hitachi Data Systems. "The advanced external storage virtualisation capabilities of the Hitachi Universal Storage Platform V and Universal Storage Platform VM coupled with the new Brocade 8Gbps switch provide the performance and scalability that customers are demanding to manage this growth and give customers the ability to maximise their existing investments."

IBM Our customers are demanding increased performance and technology that is future proof said Robert Mahoney, IBM Business Line Executive, Storage Networking. Brocade 8 Gbps switches offer the scalability, manageability, and performance that will enable customers to seamlessly incorporate new technology as it becomes available.

NetApp As server virtualisation drives new requirements in the data center, we see real value in these high performance solutions from Brocade, said Patrick Rogers, vice president of Solutions Marketing for NetApp.  Customers demand solutions that help them unify and transform their data centers. NetApp unified storage solutions, alongside Brocade 8Gbps switches, help do that and are a welcome addition for customers looking to consolidate end-to-end data center management, from servers to storage.

Sun We're working closely with Brocade to integrate their 8Gb switches into Sun's industry-leading storage portfolio that will allow customers to fully leverage server virtualisation, data mobility and other next generation capabilities," said Jason Schaffer, senior director of storage marketing, Sun Microsystems, Inc.