QLogic and NetApp Demonstrate 8Gb FC and FCoE

QLogic Corp. announced that NetApp and QLogic are demonstrating the industry’s first end-to-end 8Gb Fibre Channel network to include native 8Gb Fibre Channel storage. For the first time, customers can see the full power of 8Gb Fibre Channel networks powered by QLogic SANbox 5800 Series switches, 2500 Series host bus adapters (HBAs) and 8Gb storage from NetApp.

The two companies are also demonstrating the benefits of unified data and storage networks, showcasing the new QLogic 8000 Series converged network adapters (CNAs) and native Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) storage from NetApp. Both demonstrations will provide customers with a glimpse at each network’s ability to enhance data center IT flexibility and efficiency in virtualized environments.

“Data center managers need flexible solutions tailored to their specific application environment,” said Patrick Rogers, vice president of Solutions Marketing at NetApp. “At SNW, we’re teaming with QLogic to demonstrate NetApp’s ongoing leadership in advanced storage networking by delivering the only unified platform that supports 8Gb Fibre Channel solutions for customers expanding their current SAN architecture, and demonstrating native FCoE solutions to leverage the economics and simplicity of Ethernet fabrics.”

“We are hearing from customers that multi-core processors, blade servers and virtual machine sprawl are stressing their data center infrastructure,” said Frank Berry, vice president of marketing, QLogic Corp. “Our goal is to apply our expertise in storage, data and server networking to help our customers transform their data centers into an efficient computing environment that is consolidated, virtualized and simpler to manage.”

QLogic 2500 Series HBAs — Transforming Server Connectivity into Competitive Advantage
The QLogic 2500 Series is a family of 8Gb Fibre Channel-to-PCIe Gen2 HBAs designed for next generation virtualized data centers with powerful multi-processor, multi-core servers. QLogic 2500 Series HBAs are optimized for virtualization, power, RAS (reliability, availability, serviceability), security and management to transform server connectivity into competitive advantage. The 2500 Series provides complete investment protection by maintaining backward compatibility with previous Fibre Channel network and PCIe host bus speeds, and are set apart from all other 8Gb Fibre Channel HBAs thanks to two breakthrough innovations under the QLogic Star Power™ Green Initiative — Dynamic Power Management and Cool HBA technologies. Dynamic power management is the unique ability of the QLogic 2500 to sense the type of PCI Express bus that is present and consume only the amount of power necessary to run at full speed. QLogic Cool HBA technology is the ability of QLogic products like 2500 HBAs to operate without any airflow, unlike competitive products that require fans to be cool.

SANbox 5800 8Gb Fibre Channel Switches — For Superior Scalability
The SANbox 5800 Series is a family of 8Gb Fibre Channel switches designed to provide the absolute most cost-efficient way to scale a storage network. In addition to blazing 8Gb performance, SANbox 5800 Series switches help eliminate the cost and complexity of trunking inter-switch links (ISLs) with QLogic stackable switch technology that’s turbo-charged by the industry’s first implementation of 20Gb Fibre Channel. With stackable switch technology, SAN architects can scale a fabric with no wasted ports for ISLs, fees for trunking or disruption to the fabric, and with 20Gb Fibre Channel stack interconnects, the SANbox 5800 is the only 8Gb Fibre Channel switch with the ability to handle more than 8Gb of inter-switch traffic without the cost and complexity of trunking.

QLogic 8000 Series CNAs — Make Your Converged Network Fly
The QLogic 8000 Series is a family of converged network adapters designed for next generation virtualized and unified data centers with powerful multi-processor, multi-core servers. QLogic 8000 Series CNAs are optimized for both data and storage (FCoE) networking virtualization with fierce 10GbE performance to handle large numbers of virtual machines. QLogic 8000 Series CNAs also reduce data center Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) by enabling consolidation of data and storage networking onto a single adapter to reduce cabling, power and cooling. And by using the same industry standard SAN services, QLogic driver architecture and QLogic management tools already deployed with the largest installed base of Fibre Channel HBAs in the world, the QLogic 8000 Series CNAs completely protect customer investments in their existing Fibre Channel SANs. 

QLogic Corp.

NetApp