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Strategies & Market Trends : Gorilla and King Portfolio Candidates -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Douglas Nordgren who wrote (19564)	3/9/2000 3:09:00 AM
From: Bruce Brown	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 54805

RE: Brocade I am not a student of the Gorilla Game, but I wonder if a company involved in a technology (Fibre Channel) with a short shelf-life can be considered a Gorilla? The FC market should top out in 2-3 years, and then begin to fade as InfiniBand and 10GB ethernet replace it. Douglas Doug, I know you from the Ancor board. All I can say is that some pretty astute people, including two of the three authors of The Gorilla Game see some pretty compelling elements that point to a possible gorilla game. The market certainly appears to be seeing something in Brocade as well. Of course - all could be wrong. However, it warrants continued exploration. BB

To: Douglas Nordgren who wrote (19564)	3/9/2000 8:58:00 PM
From: Greg Hull	Respond to of 54805

RE: Brocade FSPF routing protocol Douglas, Well, I see my ploy of waiting a few hours until I had more time worked. You got plenty of responses to your points and questions. Thanks for expanding on the connection between FSPF and OSPF. It is nice to get input from someone who follows the inner workings of Fibre Channel so closely. <<I am not a student of the Gorilla Game, but I wonder if a company involved in a technology (Fibre Channel) with a short shelf-life can be considered a Gorilla? The FC market should top out in 2-3 years, and then begin to fade as InfiniBand and 10GB ethernet replace it.>> You've gotten several responses to this question, I see, but I'll add a couple words. I believe it is entirely possible for a Gorilla to have a very short life. Perhaps others can think of a specific historical example, or perhaps the pace of innovation is quickening. The naming of a Gorilla is based on the past, not the future, and certainly not on the absence of possible discontinuous innovation on the horizon. The possible replacement of FC fabric switches by Infiniband fabric switches would not eliminate Brocade being named a Gorilla. Sometimes Gorillas can progress from one tornado to the next, while maintaining or modifying their proprietary open architectures. It is too early to certify Brocade as a Gorilla of Fibre Channel SAN fabric switches, and it is way, way too early to say that they cannot be a Gorilla of Infiniband fabric switches. I believe Bruce has mentioned that Brocade is working on NAS (Network Attached Storage) solutions with NTAP. This might be their entry into the 10 GB Ethernet world. I appreciate the explanation of FSPF and welcome any additional explanations you can offer us on Fibre Channel or Infiniband. Greg