SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 13, 1998--
Brocade's New 8-Port Switch Provides a Low-cost, San Entry Point;
New Fabric Management Services for Silkworm Family Further Enable
the Industry's Highest Level of San Backbone Management
Fibre Channel SAN backbone leader Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., Monday announced it has added an eight-port Fibre Channel switch to its product offering.
SilkWorm Express incorporates the same gigabit switching technology as Brocade's SilkWorm, but at a lower cost than a SilkWorm with only eight ports, making it an ideal entry-level SAN solution.
Also, in continuing to provide the industry's most comprehensive management and diagnostics services for the SAN, Brocade announced the addition of two new optional Fabric management services for the SilkWorm family. Brocade's new interactive WEB TOOLS not only provide an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) for remote management from anywhere within the network (SAN, LAN or WAN), but also enable control at all levels -- any SilkWorm switch in a cascaded Fabric or any port viewpoints. Additionally, the "Expert Administrator" Help function not only highlights problems but also suggests solutions.
Brocade's new SCSI-3 Enclosure Services (Brocade SES) provide in-band management via the SCSI protocol for legacy storage management tools, making migration of legacy applications easier.
"As the leader in the Fibre Channel switch market, we are aggressively investing in new product development to expand both the breadth of our product line and the richness of our feature set," said Peter Tarrant, vice president of Business Development for Brocade.
"This announcement demonstrates our leadership in broadening both our hardware and software management capabilities. As with our current Fabric management offerings, Brocade's user-friendly WEB TOOLS and SES simplify and facilitate SAN management. Our new SilkWorm Express lowers the entry point for those considering SAN deployment with the robustness that SilkWorm provides."
Brocade WEB TOOLS
Brocade WEB TOOLS provide an unprecedented level of SAN management. Two unique features incorporated into WEB TOOLS are the GUI and Help functions that assist IT administrators in troubleshooting Fabric errors. Brocade has designed in an "Expert Administrator" that provides automatic pop-up warning messages in response to error conditions and suggests actions that should be taken.
Additionally, Brocade WEB TOOLS provide an easy-to-use, point-and-click one-stop administration location for accomplishing the most frequent management functions, performing a wide range of management activities, including:
-- monitoring individual port and switch operations
-- evaluating port and network performance
-- configuring the switch and network topology
-- gathering of statistics on the network, switch and port
-- upgrading SilkWorm firmware
-- entering administrative information, including passwords, etc.
-- accessing a Telnet session with a simple button click
Brocade SES
Brocade SES, the first such management service furnished by a Fibre Channel switch supplier, provides a simple and cost-effective tool for utilizing legacy SCSI-based management tools (enclosure monitoring and management functions) already deployed in customer storage environments. Users can now maintain a highly-available environment, for databases and business critical information in distributed storage configurations, in a familiar manner -- in-band, via a SCSI-based graphical user interface at a host or a SCSI-3 command-driven system with no requirement for IP device communication.
SilkWorm Express
The eight-port SilkWorm Express is suited to applications requiring fewer ports while delivering full gigabit SilkWorm family capability and compatibility. In particular, SilkWorm Express should be considered when implementing an entry-level SAN versus using a Fibre Channel hub, as the switch provides what a managed or unmanaged hub-based loop cannot -- true management, reliability and fault isolation. SilkWorm Express provides significantly enhanced diagnostics and resiliency to resolve faults quickly. A switch implementation also reduces occurrences and the impact of Loop Initialization Process (LIP) resets in arbitrated loop configurations.
The SilkWorm Express also provides full-duplex gigabit speeds from each port, increasing the total aggregate bandwidth instead of degrading port performance like the shared performance of hub connections. Additionally, SilkWorm Express provides maximum configuration flexibility, allowing direct attach to devices (servers or storage), arbitrated loops and cascading to other SilkWorm family switches.
SilkWorm Express incorporates the ANSI standard Simple Name Service (SNS), which discovers SAN-connected devices, and registers and de-registers device information when a connection changes. In addition, Brocade's multicast service sends a single data copy simultaneously to a defined group's members. The Brocade ZONING Service, an optional, licensed software, enables the creation of logical subsets of devices, offering more flexibility management and security of the SAN.
Pricing and Availability
The eight-port SilkWorm Express is available immediately with a list price of $16,000. Brocade WEB TOOLS and Brocade SES will be available to OEMs in May. Brocade software pricing is volume dependent.
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 family of Fibre Channel switches, 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, CA, 95131. For more information about Brocade, check out the company's Web site at brocade.com, or send questions via email to info@brocade.com.
SilkWorm and SilkWorm Express are trademarks of Brocade Communications Systems Inc.
CONTACT: Brocade Communications Systems Inc.
Sari Gallagher, 714/595-8792
sgallagher@brocade.com |
