Fibre Channel Switch Vendors Agree On Common Interoperability Standard
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 21, 2000--The Fibre Channel standards work group FC-SW-2, in their meeting held on June 6, 2000, unanimously voted on one interswitch routing protocol proposal to be submitted to the National Committee for Information Technology Standards (NCITS) T11 Technical Committee for approval and release for publication as a standard by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
The FC-SW-2 workgroup includes the primary Fibre Channel Switch suppliers: Ancor Communications, Inc., Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (BROCADE(R))., Gadzoox Networks, Inc., McDATA Corporation and Vixel Corporation. The NCITS T11 Technical Committee is the governing body for all the Fibre Channel related standards, including FC-SW-2.
"The Open Standards Fabric Initiative (OSFI) members are pleased to have reached an agreement on interoperability standards that are important to the advancement of open Fibre Channel-based storage area networks. Through this initiative, the companies were able to accelerate the standards process significantly, thereby assuring multi-vendor switch interoperability. We came together in a cooperative spirit in an effort to reach a timely consensus on what standards should be taken to ANSI," said Jeff Vogel, Vice President of Marketing and System Integration Services at McDATA Corporation.
The routing protocol, called FSPF (Fabric Shortest Path First), developed by BROCADE, is one of six major elements of multi-vendor interswitch interoperability. FSPF specifies a common method for routing and moving data among Fibre Channel switches and will allow switch vendors to build heterogeneous equipment based on the new protocol. The 6 elements of interoperability are Link Initialization; Principal switch selection and Domain ID assignment; Distributed Name Server; Distributed State Change Notification; Zoning; and Routing.
"The acceptance of FSPF as the Fibre Channel interswitch routing standard is a significant standards milestone for the SAN market. It will provide a universally accepted protocol to enable standards-based switch interoperability," commented Kumar Malavalli, T11 Chairman and BROCADE co-founder and vice president of Technology.
"The FCIA (Fibre Channel Industry Association) fully supports interoperability initiatives and common, open standards such as this with industry Plugfests and our SANmark program. We are pleased to see this major step toward widespread SAN implementation," added Skip Jones, President of the FCIA and Director of Planning and Technology for QLogic Corporation. The FCIA Plugfest, a three-year initiative with high industry participation, provides the Fibre Channel industry with a common structured approach to validating interoperability. FCIA SANmark program, similar to the consumer UL approval process and subsequent seal of approval, affords end users with an extra level of confidence toward equipment compliance.
"Interoperability among Fibre Channel switches is a key requirement for our SAN customers," said Duane Dueker, Vice President of SAN Marketing for IBM. "As SANs grow, customers will want to add new technology, reconfigure their networks, combine SANs, or consolidate after mergers -- the common fabric protocol is an important step toward mixed vendor fabrics, and mature SAN infrastructure. We are glad to see this need being met through the open standards process in NCITS."
"We're excited to see this new standard in switch interoperability," said Ron Lloyd, Vice President of Product Development for Sun Network Storage. "The OFSI and FCIA are making great strides toward offering customers more flexibility and choice in setting up their storage networks. This is great news for end users who want to implement SANs."
"As a pioneer in the drive to implement multi-vendor storage networks, EMC endorses industry-wide initiatives to accelerate the development of interoperable, standards-based SAN technologies," concluded Don Swatik, Vice President of Strategic Planning at EMC Corporation. "Cross-vendor cooperation of this kind is an essential first step in ensuring that customers can deploy open storage networks quickly, easily and cost-effectively."
About The FCIA
The Fibre Channel Industry Association (FCIA) is an international organization of manufacturers, systems integrators, developers, systems vendors, industry professionals, and end users. With more than 150 members and affiliates in the United States, Europe and Japan, the FCIA is committed to delivering a broad base of Fibre Channel infrastructure to support a wide array of industry applications within the mass storage and IT-based arenas. FCIA Working Groups focus on specific aspects of the technology that target both vertical and horizontal markets, including storage, video, networking and SAN Management. For information, please contact the Fibre Channel Industry Association at 415/750-8355 or visit the FCIA web site at fibrechannel.org.
About the OSFI
Switch manufacturers Ancor Communications, Inc., Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., Gadzoox Networks, Inc., McDATA Corporation and Vixel Corporation form the OSFI (Open Standards Fabric Initiative). The goal of the OSFI is to promote interoperability between Fibre Channel switches and is a collaborative effort to accelerate the normal standards adoption process by developing and agreeing upon the critical elements required for switch-to-switch interoperability.
CONTACT:
Chan & Associates, Inc.
Curtis Chan, 714/447-4993
cj-chan@chanandassoc.com
or
FCIA Communications Chairperson
Mimi Howard, 408/970-7735
mimi.howard@hds.com |
