Brocade Evolves Its DCX Data Center Backbone Platform

Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. has further strengthened its next-generation Brocade DCX Backbone family with the introduction of two new modular solutions: the Brocade FX8-24 Extension Blade designed to connect two or more data centers to enhance business continuity and disaster recovery, and the Brocade FCoE 10-24 Blade, which provides Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) capabilities for server I/O consolidation in the data center.

    
Brocade FCoE 10-24 Blade

These advancements continue to extend the value of the DCX as one of the industry’s most strategic and flexible data center networking platforms through constant innovation and third-party support.

According to a recent report from AT&T, customers intend to prioritize business continuity and security solutions in terms of IT projects that will get funded over the next 12 months as companies prepare for an economic turnaround. The data center-to-data center connectivity solutions from Brocade are essential to implementing effective business continuity and disaster recovery plans, enabling companies to replicate data and digital files over high-performance metro-area and wide-area networks on a real-time or near-real-time basis.

Brocade server I/O consolidation solutions based on FCoE and Converged Enhanced Ethernet (CEE) are designed to provide the scalability needed in highly demanding, virtualized server environments to meet the dynamic needs of evolving enterprise data centers. These networking solutions will help companies build their next-generation data center networks and better support emerging technologies such as server virtualization and cloud computing.

Leading the Way in Data Center-to-Data Center Connectivity Solutions
Designed specifically for larger enterprise data centers and multisite environments, the new Brocade FX8-24 Extension Blade for the Brocade DCX Backbone family addresses the most demanding extension and storage networking requirements with unmatched Fibre Channel and FCIP bandwidth, port density, and throughput for maximum application performance over WAN links.

The extension blade offers twelve 8-gigabit per second (Gbps) Fibre Channel ports, ten 1-gigabit Ethernet (GbE) ports, and up to two optional 10 GbE ports. Organizations can install up to two Brocade FX8-24 blades in a Brocade DCX or DCX-4S Backbone and can double the aggregate bandwidth to 40 Gbps by activating the optional 10 GbE ports. The platform also introduces FCIP Trunking, the industry’s only solution enabling FCIP tunnels with up to 10 Gbps bandwidth using 10 GbE ports and 4 Gbps using 1 GbE ports, with full failover and load balancing capabilities for resiliency and performance. Additional new features and enhancements include Adaptive Rate Limiting, FCIP Quality of Service (QoS), and more effective compression.

In addition, Brocade continues to offer more flexible deployment options with these solutions also available as dedicated, standalone network devices. Brocade is also announcing the availability of the Brocade 7800 Extension Switch, which offers the same functionality as the Brocade FX8-24 Extension Blade but as a fixed-configuration switch. The Brocade 7800 provides a cost-effective choice for smaller data centers and remote offices implementing point-to-point disk replication in open systems environments.

The Brocade 7800 leverages cost-effective IP wide-area network (WAN) transport to extend open systems and mainframe storage applications over extended distances. It provides up to sixteen 8 Gbps Fibre Channel ports and six 1 GbE ports, and can be easily upgraded through software licensing to provide the scalability and investment protection needed to support growing business requirements.

Both extension products will be available through EMC, Hitachi Data Systems and HP.

Broadening CEE/FCoE Solution Leadership
Part of a unified solution that includes the Brocade 1010/1020 Converged Network Adapters (CNAs) and centralized management, the new Brocade FCoE 10-24 blade leverages the multiprotocol architecture and breakthrough performance of Brocade DCX Backbones to deliver the first high-density, end-of-row option for consolidating server I/O connectivity. The blade features twenty-four 10 Gbps CEE ports and provides rich Layer 2 Ethernet functionality for local area network (LAN) traffic. Storage traffic is delivered to the storage area network (SAN) through 8 Gbps Fibre Channel blades in the Brocade DCX Backbone chassis.

For organizations that prefer a top-of-rack switch with FCoE capabilities, Brocade offers the Brocade 8000 Switch. To meet current and future needs, organizations now have the flexibility of initially deploying the Brocade 8000 as a 10 GbE Layer 2 Ethernet top-of-rack switch and activating only the CEE ports. For SAN connectivity in the future, they can add an optional license to activate the Fibre Channel ports and FCoE capabilities, providing a seamless path for server I/O consolidation.

The Brocade FCoE 10-24 Blade for the Brocade DCX Backbone will be available through EMC, Hitachi Data Systems, HP, and NetApp (supported by NetApp FAS and V-Series unified storage systems).

Right-Sized End-to-End SAN Management Options
Brocade also debuted Brocade Data Center Fabric Manager (DCFM) Professional Plus, created specifically for midsized organizations and departments. DCFM Professional Plus leverages the same architecture and supports most of the features of Brocade DCFM Enterprise edition to provide a seamless upgrade path for growing environments.

In addition, Brocade has released DCFM version 10.3, delivering new FCIP management capabilities that help simplify configuration and administration of Fibre Channel and FCIP network infrastructures. It also enables broader management of CEE/FCoE environments along with enhancements to simplify end-to-end administration of large virtualized server environments.