Prime Contractor for NASA Shuttle Program Deploys BROCADE SAN Solutions
SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Brocade Communications Systems,
Inc. (BROCADE(R)) (NASDAQ:BRCD), the leading supplier of Fibre Channel fabric
solutions for Storage Area Networking, announced today that United Space
Alliance (USA) Ground Operations, one of the world's leading space operations
companies, has standardized on BROCADE solutions for storage area network
(SAN) connectivity. The United Space Alliance, which is responsible for the
NASA U.S. Space Shuttle operations, has deployed BROCADE fabric solutions to
create a dynamically scaleable storage area network.
The BROCADE SilkWorm(R) family of Fibre Channel switches and software
connects servers with storage devices through a Fibre Channel SAN and allows
companies to access and share storage in a high-performance, manageable, and
scaleable environment. The BROCADE-based SAN provides USA with a
highly reliable infrastructure to support the massive information requirements
of space operations such as the U.S. Space Shuttle.
"Managing and operating the U.S. Space Shuttle defines the words
'mission-critical': human lives and significant research investments depend
on our data reliability and accessibility. Our storage environment must
support the transmission of management data and support a data store of
approximately five terabytes. Ground Operations Shuttle Processing consumes
an enormous amount of data," said Mark Hargrove, Platform Architecture
Engineering Services for USA at the Kennedy Space Center. "BROCADE SilkWorm
switches provide the central connectivity for our storage network. Using
BROCADE solutions, we have reduced the costs of both storage and storage
administration. Through this networked environment, United Space Alliance
gains a reliable, high-performance storage environment that is both scaleable
and flexible and supports data and project expansion."
The Space Shuttle Requires Highest Performance and Reliability
United Space Alliance (USA), headquartered in Houston, Texas, is one of
the world's leading space operations companies. USA manages and conducts
space operations work involving the operation and maintenance of multi-purpose
space systems, including NASA's human space flight program, Space Shuttle
applications, and other reusable launch and orbital systems. As the prime
contractor for NASA's Space Shuttle Program, USA is responsible for the
day-to-day operation and management of the U.S. Space Shuttle fleet and
overseeing mission design and planning; flight operations; software
development and integration; payload integration; integrated logistics;
astronaut and flight controller training; and vehicle processing for launch
and recovery.
To maintain the massive amounts of data associated with the ground
operations processing and management of the U.S. Space Shuttle fleet, USA
implemented a SAN as part of the processing automation implementation at
Kennedy Space Center. The SAN provides a networked storage environment to
optimize performance and availability for this valuable data. The SAN
supports five terabytes of storage today and comprises eight StorageTek(TM)
Fibre Channel switches that are based on BROCADE full-fabric SilkWorm
switches. The switches connect Windows NT servers, HP-UX Enterprise Class
servers, and a robotic tape silo. BROCADE's zoning software ensures high
manageability of the SAN.
"BROCADE continues to raise the bar in providing reliable, manageable and
scaleable solutions for storage area networking. We are pleased to provide
the strategic SAN platform for enabling continuously available, reliable
information for the USA space operations," said Peter Tarrant, BROCADE vice
president of marketing and business development. |
