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Networking Equipment -- Gadzoox networks' denali bridges two worlds --
Fibre Channel arbitrated-loop switch unveiled
By Loring Wirbel
San Jose, Calif. - Gadzoox Networks Inc.'s Denali is a storage-area
network switch intended not for general switching-fabric duties, but as
a system for switching and segmenting Fibre Channel arbitrated loops.
Denali can manage loops based on Gadzoox's own Gibraltar managed hubs or
its BitStrip unmanaged hubs, as well as other vendors' hubs. Because it
can serve as a storage-area feeder switch to larger switches, it does
not displace larger enterprise Fibre Channel switches from such vendors
as McData and Brocade.
"The basic function of Denali is to physically join FC-AL loops while
logically maintaining a separation between the loops," said
business-development director David Tang. One Denali switch supports
three independent Fibre Channel arbitrated loops and can address up to
126 nodes per loop. When cascaded, up to 256 loops can be connected, to
provide support for up to 32,000 node addresses.
For cases in which arbitrated loops have grown large and need more
address segmentation, Denali's application is straightforward. But Tang
noted that unexpected applications are emerging, such as remote storage
management, in which the server controlling RAIDs (redundant arrays of
independent disks) and JBOD ("just a bunch of disks") arrays must be
physically separated by several thousand feet for security reasons.
Gadzoox provides an SNMP-based management system, called Ventana, that
allows both Denali and the Gibraltar hubs to be managed either in-band
or out-of-band.
Gadzoox is also offering a new, modular version of Gibraltar, called
Gibraltar GS, that lets users mix and match fiber and copper ports. The
original Gibraltar had 12 optical fiber ports; the GS model uses modular
Gigabit Interface converters (GBICs), which let users choose the mix of
copper and fiber interfaces they wish to have.
The GS hub comes in a slave configuration, with unpopulated ports and a
single power supply. In addition to adding GBIC modules, users can add a
redundant power supply and move to a master configuration through field
upgrades.
Beta units of Denali will ship in December, with prices starting at
$12,250. Volume shipments will begin in the first quarter.
Gibraltar GS is slated to ship in December at a starting price of
$6,000, or $500 per managed port. |
