Fibre Channel Switch Vendors Agree On Common Interoperability Standard
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SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 22, 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. (NASDAQ:ANCR), Brocade
Communications Systems, Inc. (BROCADE(R)) (NASDAQ:BRCD), Gadzoox
Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZOOX), McDATA Corp. and Vixel Corp.
(NASDAQ:VIXL). 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 an interoperability standard that is
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 taking an
important step toward multi-vendor switch interoperability. We came
together in a cooperative spirit in an effort to reach a timely
consensus on what standard should be taken to ANSI," said Jeff Vogel,
Vice President of Marketing and System Integration Services at McDATA
Corp.
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(TM) 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 Corp. (NASDAQ:QLGC). 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 (NYSE: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 (NASDAQ:SUNW). "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
Corp. (NYSE:EMC). "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, 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 Corp. and
Vixel Corp. 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
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: ADVERTISING/MARKETING COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS
INTERNET SOFTWARE
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