what does McData do?
From the McData prospectus filed on 5/31/2000:
McDATA PRODUCTS
McDATA designs, develops, manufactures and sells switching devices and related software that enable enterprise-wide high performance SANs. We are a technology and market leader for director class SAN switching products. We are developing a comprehensive suite of SAN switching products that leverage the core technology advantages of our hardware and software design architecture to address enterprise connectivity needs.
The following table summarizes the key features and functions of our primary products:
[PRIMARY PRODUCTS GRAPH]
* We are conducting final systems verification testing
on the ECS-1000 with plans to initiate initial beta customer activities in the third quarter of 2000. We expect the ECS-1000 to be commercially available in the second half of 2000.
ED-5000 Enterprise Fibre Channel Director. The ED-5000 provides high performance switching for mass storage clusters and client-server environments. The ED-5000 is a 32-port fibre channel switch that offers high-performance connectivity and high availability as well as shared network management protocol support in high-end open systems, such as those using UNIX, Windows2000 and Linux. The product is a high-end solution for applications requiring gigabit performance and 24x7 operation. The ED-5000 provides full redundancy in a non-blocking, any-to-any, 32-port, configuration within the switch. The major sub-assemblies of the ED-5000 are "hot-swappable", thereby allowing customers to replace and service the unit without interrupting the basic operation of the switch.
ECS-1000 Fibre Channel Switch. The ECS-1000 is an entry level fibre channel switching device that, when combined with the ED-5000 Director, enables an end-to-end switching solution for the consolidation of workgroup and department level storage and servers. High availability features include redundant fans, power supplies and other components. The ECS-1000 switch is equipped to be managed with our enterprise software products, providing a
centralized, fabric-wide statistical view of the entire storage network.
Software Products. Our management software products, branded Enterprise Fabric Connectivity Manager, or EFCM, which are licensed separately from our other products, leverage our director class experience to provide open-systems network management capabilities. The EFCM platform utilizes standards-based and proprietary technologies to provide user-friendly distributed network management configuration and control capabilities. Using Java-based and client-server technologies, we have designed the EFCM management architecture to be operating system independent.
FabricReady Solutions. Our FabricReady solutions are comprised of our director products and other SAN networking devices and form comprehensive enterprise storage connectivity solutions. These FabricReady offerings are preconfigured and qualified with hardware, software and services necessary to provide interoperable SAN solutions. FabricReady offerings provide customers and channel partners with an integrated, application based SAN solution for solving business critical problems across the enterprise. It offers customers a predictable and reliable way to deploy SAN solutions into their production environments while substantially minimizing overall risks and the costs associated with new technologies. FabricReady services combine our long standing commitment and investments in interoperability with the capability to provide complete end-to-end SAN infrastructure solutions based on the integration and rigorous testing of applications. We currently provide FabricReady solutions for NT and Sun consolidation and LAN-free back-up applications.
Protocol routers and host bus adapters, or HBAs, represent significant enabling technologies that provide an essential part of a total FabricReady solution. HBAs are required to provide the fibre channel interface on the server platforms. We offer the majority of popular interfaces from leading vendors such as Emulex Corporation, Jaycor and QLogic Corporation as part of a qualified packaged solution to end-user and systems integrator channels.
The SCSI to fibre channel router devices are another key element in our FabricReady solutions portfolio. The EB-1200 is sold as part of a bundled solution to end-user and systems integrator channels. The EB-1200 provides two 16-bit SCSI ports and one 1.062 gigabit fibre channel port connection for customers requiring fibre channel connectivity to existing SCSI devices. Additionally, we are working with router companies, including Crossroads Systems, Inc. and Chaparral Network Storage, Inc. to integrate and qualify third party software to enable serverless back-up.
FICON Bridge. We designed and manufacture the FICON(TM) feature card within IBM's 9032 Model 5 Director that functions as a bridge between FICON and ESCON protocols. FICON is designed to provide fibre channel connectivity to
mainframe storage devices. FICON takes advantage of the ANSI fibre channel standard transport with the introduction of IBM's performance-enhancing S/390 layer. The FICON Bridge card helps provide customers with investment protection for currently installed ESCON control units, such as disk storage and tape control units.
TECHNOLOGY
We have developed ASIC technology that serves as the foundation for the development of a complete family of SAN products. Our ASICs provide building blocks at the circuit level for implementing fibre channel switches. These ASICs
combine a number of fibre channel functions in a single chip that substantially reduces the number of components needed in our fibre channel switches. Our years of design expertise in fibre channel technology and large scale switching solutions allows us to deploy high availability SAN fabrics.
These ASICs are used in our next generation switch products, which are currently undergoing testing. The implementation of our new switch architecture is based on a common hardware and software design. The architecture enables product designs that span the high-end and mid-range storage computing environments with gigabit performance and 24x7 operation. Our next generation of
fibre channel SAN products provides the highest port density, non-blocking, single stage switch that enables a fabric to scale beyond 8000 ports. In addition to the support for full duplex 1.0625 Gbps ports at very low latencies, the design supports 2.125 Gbps and future 10 Gbps links.
As with our first generation fibre channel products, the superior reliability, availability, manageability and serviceability characteristics of the product are key design elements of our next generation switch products. These characteristics include the following:
- system status monitoring;
- automatic fail-over to redundant components;
- non-disruptive serviceability
- component failure detection and reporting;
- user friendly operation;
- automated call home facilities;
- network management that supports both in-band and out-of-band systems; and
- management via our EFCM software management products.
Our software product architecture is based on a McDATA-developed embedded real-time operating system which provides state-of-the-art characteristics. Coupled with hardware architecture, the software design delivers fibre channel services for the entire family of SAN products, using a single, common code image.
freedgar.com
Also, noteworthy is the Brocade and McData OEM agreement (including perpetual, paid-up ASIC firmware license) which apparently resulted from the settlement of the patent infringement lawsuits filed by Brocade and Mcdata against each other in early 1998.
McDATA has filed an action in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado on March 4, 1998, entitled McDATA Corporation v. Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., et al., Civil Action No. 98-S-535 (the "Colorado Action"). Brocade has filed an action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on March 20, 1998, entitled Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. v. McDATA Corporation, Civil Action No. C98-20259 RWM (the "California Action"). Both parties have agreed to dismiss with prejudice the Colorado Action and the California Action. Each party will bear its own costs for the Colorado Action and the California Action, including all attorneys' fees. |
