McDATA Announces 2Gb/s Core-to-Edge Family of Storage Networking Products
BROOMFIELD, Colo., April 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
McDATA(R) Corporation (NASDAQ:MCDTA, MCDT), the worldwide leader in open
storage networking solutions, today announced its full family of core-to-edge
2Gigabit per second (Gb/s) storage infrastructure solutions. Customers can
now get the end-to-end performance benefits of a complete 2Gb/s storage
infrastructure with the industry's most reliable and cost-effective storage
networking products. McDATA's full family of core-to-edge 2Gb/s storage
networking products -- including its Intrepid(TM) 6000 Series Directors and
its Sphereon(TM) 3000 Series 16 and 32 port Fabric Switches -- are built on
its common Extendable Open Network (EON(TM)) Architecture that brings
industry-leading investment protection, minimization of risk, availability and
performance to the market.
"It will be important to have 2Gb/s in a true core-edge fabric. The fact
that McDATA has a fully integrated, multi-protocol story capable of 2Gb/s to
10Gb/s must also resonate with the large data centers," said Steve Duplessie,
analyst for the Enterprise Storage Group Inc.
What this means is that by migrating to a 2Gb/s infrastructure with
McDATA's core-to-edge enterprise solutions, customers will save more money,
enjoy significant performance benefits and be assured their data is protected
by the most reliable SAN solutions on the market.
"McDATA enables us to take advantage of the performance benefits of 2Gb/s
technology with its Intrepid 6000 Series Directors, the only Director-class
product upgradeable to 2Gb/s on the market today. Our existing infrastructure
investments are fully protected since McDATA's 2Gb/s Directors interoperate
with existing technologies," said Bruce Rosser, director of information
processing for the State of New Jersey. "Not only can we optimize the
potential of our storage infrastructure with McDATA's SAN solutions, but we're
able to save a considerable amount of money by not having to replace our
existing McDATA Intrepid 6000 Series Directors when we migrate to 2Gb/s
transfer rates or emerging technologies such as iSCSI and Infiniband."
McDATA's 2Gb/s Intrepid and Sphereon product lines offer customers the
following benefits:
INVESTMENT PROTECTION
Intrepid(TM) 6000 Series Directors offer:
-- Protocol independence and support of emerging technologies such as
iSCSI and Infiniband;
-- Lower costs through simplified management of SANs built with large,
high port-count Director-class backbones;
-- The ability to leverage 1 Gb/s Directors and upgrade to 2 Gb/s;
extending the life of existing Director investments;
Sphereon(TM) 3000 Series Fabric Switches: Sphereon 3216 and 3232 provide:
-- Small SAN building blocks with superior management capabilities;
-- The highest port density offering in its class
(1u/16 ports - 11/2 u/32 ports);
-- Only 32-port switch on market today;
-- Lower costs as it is less expensive than building larger fabrics on
16 port switches;
-- An optimal mid-size SAN backbone switch -- due to port count,
scalability and management.
MINIMIZATION OF RISK
Intrepid(TM) 6000 Series Directors minimize risk by:
-- Having been designed based on McDATA's legacy of 1.3 billion hours
of data center operation experience;
-- Undergoing rigorous testing in McDATA and independent labs;
-- Extending the life of a customer's current McDATA 6000 Series Director
through its ability to upgrade to 2Gb/s;
-- Being capable of upgrading from 1Gb/s to 2Gb/s; and the upgraded
equipment remains compatible with the current SAN infrastructure and
protocols;
Sphereon(TM) 3000 Series Fabric Switches: Sphereon 3216 and 3232 are:
-- Based on industry-leading Director technology that provides HotCAT(TM)
Technology (non-disruptive code load and activation), as well as the
ability to downgrade non-disruptively;
-- The most flexible offering in terms of implementation;
CONSTANT AVAILABILITY AND PERFORMANCE
Intrepid(TM) 6000 Series Directors offer:
-- Common Director-class architecture across product family;
-- 2 Gb/s enhanced performance of data intensive applications;
-- Higher application performance;
-- Interoperability with other, non-core SAN equipment --
HBAs, storage, etc. -- running at lower speeds;
-- Field proven 99.999-percent availability;
-- Maximum productivity with uncompromising performance;
-- McDATA's Open Trunking(TM) Solution will optimize performance
and lower costs.
Sphereon(TM) 3000 Series Fabric Switches: Sphereon 3216 and 3232 deliver:
-- Highest availability products in class;
-- Optimal scalability, performance, management and availability;
-- Superior high availability capabilities including HotCAT(TM)
Technology and port-to-port data integrity.
"By introducing its full family of 2Gb/s storage networking products,
McDATA has reaffirmed its commitment to providing customers with the finest
SAN solutions in the industry. McDATA's Intrepid and Sphereon lines of
Directors and Switches are the most cost-effective, easily scalable, and
simplest to manage storage infrastructure products available," said Jack
McDonnell, chairman and chief executive officer of McDATA. "There simply
isn't a better set of SAN products in the world."
McDATA's 2Gb/s Intrepid(TM) 6000 Series Directors and 32-port Sphereon(TM)
3000 Series Fabric Switches, with a 16-port McDATA Flexport Technology Option,
will be made generally available in mid-May 2002. McDATA's 2Gb/s 16-port
Sphereon(TM) 3000 Series Fabric Switch will be made generally available in
June.
INDUSTRY SUPPORT FOR McDATA'S 2Gb/s SAN SOLUTIONS
IBM
"Open, secure and scalable storage solutions are becoming increasingly
important as customers continue to leverage their enterprise information for a
competitive advantage," said Jim Kelly, vice president marketing, IBM Storage
Products Division. "McDATA's next generation high availability Director with
built-in investment protection and Fabric Switches with full interoperability
with installed McDATA products will be particularly appealing to our mutual
customers. IBM's industry leading TotalStorage disk, tape and software
offerings combined with McDATA's newest switches are optimized to help
customers securely store, share and manage information, while reducing the
total cost of ownership, simplifying SAN management and enabling more
scalable, enterprise-wide SANs."
Hitachi Data Systems
"Hitachi Data Systems has led the storage industry in bringing 2Gb/s
storage to market. By reselling McDATA's 2Gb/s Intrepid(TM) 6000 Series
Directors and Sphereon(TM)?3000 Series Fabric Switches, we're able to continue
that leadership with McDATA's highly available, scalable and cost-effective
family of 2Gb/s SAN solutions," said Don McNicholl, senior director of product
marketing for Hitachi Data Systems. "McDATA's core-to-edge family of 2Gb/s
enterprise solutions will enable Hitachi Data Systems customers of all sizes
to build a SAN that is cost effective, easily scalable and simple to manage."
EMC
Don Swatik, EMC Vice President of Global Alliances and Information
Sciences said, "Customers are increasingly looking to take advantage of the
performance benefits of 2 Gb/s fibre channel technology, but still want to be
able to build a SAN that is cost effective, easily scalable and simple to
manage. What's more, they want to be able to deploy such solutions across all
levels of their infrastructure. McDATA's new core-to-edge family of 2Gb/s
storage networking products looks to meet these important customer needs."
VERITAS Software
"VERITAS Software is working with McDATA to ensure we provide customers a
low-cost, seamless upgrade path that is interoperable with VERITAS' SAN
software, ensuring they get the most out of their existing infrastructure
investment," said Robin Purohit, vice president of product management,
Availability Products Group. "Combining McDATA's line of storage networking
products with VERITAS storage software products enhances performance and
simplifies management in a SAN environment."
State of New Jersey Office of Information Technology
"McDATA enables us to take advantage of the performance benefits of 2Gb/s
technology with its Intrepid 6000 Series Directors, the only Director-class
product upgradeable to 2Gb/s on the market today. Our existing infrastructure
investments are fully protected since McDATA's 2Gb/s Directors interoperate
with existing technologies," said Bruce Rosser, director of information
processing for the State of New Jersey. "Not only can we optimize the
potential of our storage infrastructure with McDATA's SAN solutions, but we're
able to save a considerable amount of money by not having to replace our
existing McDATA Intrepid 6000 Series Directors when we migrate to 2Gb/s
transfer rates or emerging technologies such as iSCSI and Infiniband."
Enterprise Storage Group Inc.
"It will be important to have 2Gb/s in a true core-edge fabric. The fact
that McDATA has a fully integrated, multi-protocol story capable of 2Gb/s to
10Gb/s must also resonate with the large data-centers," said Steve Duplessie,
analyst for the Enterprise Storage Group Inc.
Gartner Inc.
"Any amount of downtime can have severe economic consequences since
unimpeded access to information is so critical to the operation of companies
today. IT managers need to carefully consider the direct and indirect cost of
downtime when deploying storage infrastructures in their data centers," said
James Opfer, chief analyst, Gartner, Inc.
IDC
"Over the years, McDATA's product offering and expertise in storage
networking, have helped establish the company as a trusted source of high
availability within the SAN infrastructure market," said Eric Sheppard, senior
research analyst at IDC. "Support for 2Gb/s Fibre Channel will help to ensure
that companies can continue to count on McDATA when migrating to next
generation Fibre Channel speeds."
MSI Systems Integrators
"MSI is very pleased to offer McDATA's 2Gb/s Intrepid(TM) 6000 Series
Director and Sphereon(TM) 3000 Series Fabric Switches to its customers. The
announcement of McDATA's core-to-edge family of storage networking solutions
marks the first time customers can take advantage of a true, full family of
2Gb/s SAN products," said Joe Andersen, Director of Storage Technologies for
MSI Systems Integrators. "By announcing its 2Gb/s core-to-edge family of SAN
products, McDATA reaffirms its commitment to providing customers with robust
and highly scalable storage infrastructure products."
Champion Solutions Group
"McDATA's core-to-edge family of 2Gb/s SAN products represents the most
reliable, cost effective and easy-to-manage storage infrastructure solutions
in the industry. Customers looking to deploy a highly available enterprise
SAN need look no further than McDATA's 2Gb/s Intrepid(TM) 6000 Series Director
and Sphereon(TM) 3000 Series Fabric Switches," said Larry McQuinn, senior vice
president at Champion Solutions Group. "Champion is proud to be able to
deliver to its customers the very finest storage networking solutions on the
market and, partnered with McDATA, we're able to do just that." |
