Brocade Announces new Zoning Fabric Service for its Silkworm Fibre
Channel Switch
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 16, 1998--
Unique Brocade ZONING Service Offers Users Improved Management of
Fabric-connected Devices and Fabric Security for Server-Storage
Area Networks (SANs)
Fibre Channel SAN backbone leader Brocade Communications Systems Inc. Monday
announced ZONING, a new
Brocade Fabric service for its SilkWorm Fibre Channel switch.
ZONING, an optional management service offered exclusively by Brocade, enables
the configuration of Fabric-connected
devices on a SAN into logical subsets within the physical Fabric.
Fibre Channel is emerging as the technology for deployment of SANs, with Fibre
Channel switches creating a distributed
any-to-any environment between a company's server and storage devices. However,
IT managers have specific business
constraints and/or practices that would benefit from the flexibility of logically managed
groups of resources.
"Brocade's ZONING allows IT managers to implement flexible configurations, without
actually rewiring systems in order to
meet varying application demands," said Kumar Malavalli, vice president of technology
for Brocade. "ZONING provides a
dynamic way to make a logical separation between departments, business units and
closed user groups, in addition to providing
secured access of corporate resources to select users."
Brocade's ZONING service provides four distinct benefits for improved security and
manageability of a Fabric's applications
and environments, including:
-- unified heterogeneous environments, by setting barriers
between systems of different operating system environments or uses
(such as UNIX and NT);
-- increased security, by allowing the creation of closed user groups, such as between
departments or different business groups
in an enterprise (e.g. a finance department);
-- greater flexibility for application demands, by creating test
and/or maintenance areas separate from the rest of the Fabric or by
providing temporary access among devices during prescribed times, such
as for enterprise backup; and
-- optimization of resources, by clustering equipment logically, without physical
changes, for IT convenience.
"As the backbone of the SAN, the switch is the ideal place to add
intelligence to the data center infrastructure," said Bruce Bergman,
president and chief executive officer for Brocade.
"Brocade, as the leading supplier of SAN switch Fabrics, prides
itself on providing the industry's most comprehensive and robust
Fabric management services for the SAN. Our ZONING feature is a key
step in our plans to continually enhance our Fabric services for the
intelligent infrastructure. This allows our OEM customers to add value
and differentiation, and provides users with more flexible, manageable
data centers."
Brocade's Current Fabric Services
A Brocade Fibre Channel Fabric is created by implementing one or
more SilkWorm switches as the backbone of a SAN. All server and
storage devices connected to a SilkWorm are able to utilize all Fabric
services.
The SilkWorm switch incorporates the Simple Name Server (SNS),
which automatically discovers and tracks directory information about
devices attached to the Fabric. SNS, which automatically
registers/de-registers and queries Fabric-connected devices for
essential information, makes additions and topology changes easier to
handle. The value of Brocade's SNS increases with a Fabric's size and
complexity (hundreds or even thousands of devices) as traditional
device polling methods become cumbersome, inefficient and impractical.
Brocade also offers various management access methods for
managing the Brocade SilkWorm Fabric, including SNMP, Telnet and
Web-based. These services provide graphical displays related to
enclosure information, port status, performance levels, SNMP data
display and many other important data points that are essential for
proper Fabric management.
In addition, SilkWorm offers the multicast service (simultaneous
transmission of data to multiple users), which allows more information
to be moved through a fixed bandwidth.
Pricing and Availability
Brocade ZONING will be available to OEMs in May. One time (to the
OEM) license pricing begins at $20,000 and includes all SilkWorm
switches in the volume agreement.
About Brocade Communications Systems Inc.
Brocade, the industry's leading supplier of Fibre Channel switch
Fabrics, provides the intelligent backbone infrastructure for the
implementation of Server-Storage Area Networks (SANs). The company's
Fabric enables end-users to optimize connections between data storage
and enterprise servers, and to design high-performance, scalable data
center backbones.
Brocade manufactures and markets its SilkWorm Fibre Channel
switch, through which Brocade provides the industry's most
comprehensive Fabric services and management access methods currently
available. Brocade has headquarters at 1901 Guadalupe Parkway, San
Jose, Calif. 95131. For more information about Brocade, check out the
company's Web site at brocade.com, or send questions via
e-mail to info@brocade.com.
SilkWorm is a trademark of Brocade Communications Systems Inc.
CONTACT: Brocade Communications Systems Inc.
Sari Gallagher, 714/595-8792
sgallagher@brocade.com |
