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Technology Stocks : Son of SAN - Storage Networking Technologies -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: pprobinson who wrote (3717)	7/31/2001 9:41:22 PM
From: Gus	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4808

....but I assume that the SAN switches that are integrated in Compaq's EMA 16000 are Mcdata's ED-5000 (32-port) and the Galaxy 6400 (64-port)? Is this the way you interpret it? No. The "integrated switch" refer to Brocade's 64-port integrated switch which Compaq is selling as follows: Two distinct models are available. The SAN Switch Integrated/32 and SAN Switch Integrated/64 are configured hardware solutions providing the user with either 32 non-blocking or 64 low-latency Fibre Channel 1 GB/s ports in a highly available, high port-density Fibre Channel switch for networking servers and storage in a Storage Area Network (SAN). Both of the cost-effective high port-count Fibre Channel solutions are remarkably easy to deploy and manage. The units are comprised of six integrated switch modules, pre-configured with all necessary cabling in a single, rackmount unit. Each unit ships with all Gigabit Interface Converters (GBICs) included. Users who need the highest throughput performance will want to utilize the SAN Switch Integrated/32. The underlying architecture provides thirty-two ISLs (Inter Switch Links) producing as many pathways as user ports. This gives the greatest cross sectional bandwidth under the heaviest of loads, virtually eliminating possible contention or over-subscription of ports. Those users who need the highest performance, experience periods of sustained I/O, or need a "backbone" or core switch should choose the SAN Switch Integrated /32. Users whose primary concern is high port-count and can accept somewhat less potential performance under heavy loads will choose the SAN Switch Integrated /64. compaq.com Note the massive ISL (interswitch link) overhead in the Brocade/Compaq solution. The comical part of this solution is the individual switch element. Brocade's integrated 64-port consists of 6 switch elements. Compaq also refers to each of these switch elements as the Fabric Channel Switch 16-EL, which is actually a stripped down version of Brocade's main 16-port switch. Q1: How is SAN Switch 16-EL different from the SAN Switch 16? A1: The SAN 16-EL is a field replaceable unit, not available with hot plug power supplies or fans. It does not have a management screen like the SAN 16. There is no on/off switch on the unit. It is slightly smaller, measuring only 1.5U vs. 2U for the SAN 16. Q2: What features does SAN Switch 16-EL share with the SAN Switch 16? A2: Both are configured with 16 removable GBIC ports, all of which are configurable as E-Ports for attaching to another switch. All ports on both units accept longwave or shortwave GBICs. Q3: How is the SAN Switch 16-EL managed? A3: The unit has an Ethernet port and a serial port. Administrative functions take place from an existing LAN based system or locally in the SAN itself. Supported management methods include Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), Telnet, and WEB-Based Management tools launched via StorageWorks Command Console (SWCC). www5.compaq.com Six switch elements or 16-ELs result in a raw port count of 96 ports. To produce 64 *blocking* ports, Brocade has to burn 32 ports on ISLs inside the chassis. To produce 32 *non-blocking* ports, Brocade has to burn 64 ports on ISLs inside the chassis!!!! There are no ISLs in a 32-port director and properly configured, the most CRITICAL servers and storage systems can communicate at near-instantaneous ASIC speeds through the same 4-port card (McData) or 8-port switch module (inrange) without the latency of travelling through the backplane.