Friday, May 30, 2008

NEW - 8Gbps SAN Switches - 24 & 40 Port

Overview

The new 8 Gbps SAN switches are designed to provide high-performance switching platforms used to interconnect storage devices, hosts and servers in storage area networks (SANs).
The new switches deliver breakthrough performance with 8 Gbps Fibre Channel (FC) interfaces.
The SAN40B-4 is an enterprise-class 8 Gbps FC switch designed to handle the large-scale SAN requirements of an enterprise. It can also be used to address the SAN requirements of a small- to medium-sized workgroup.

The SAN24B-4 Express is a low-cost, high-performance 8 Gbps FC switch designed specifically for the needs of smaller environments, particularly businesses implementing a SAN for the first time. With key ease-of-installation and ease-of-use features, it provides excellent overall value as the foundation of a small SAN with the ability to grow with the organization's needs.
The Fibre Channel Routing (FCR) service provides improved scalability and fault isolation with the SAN80B-4 and SAN40B-4 switches.

The new switches leverage proven reliability and new technology to deliver improved Reliability, Availability and Serviceability (RAS).

The SAN40B-4 and SAN24B-4 Express switches are designed to address key customer requirements while helping to protect investments already made by the deployment of existing SANs, servers, storage hardware and advanced functions. The switches offer:
Forward and backward compatibility with IBM System Storage SAN switch models, 1, 2, 4 and 8 Gbps auto-sensing capability, as well as Advanced Fabric Services and management tools
Interoperability between IBM System Storage b-type and m-type SAN switches and directors
Full Fabric operation and Universal Port operation on all ports (F_Port, E_Port, FL_Port, M-Port and EX_Port) of selected switches
Inter Switch Link (ISL) Trunking
Advanced Zoning
Intelligent management and monitoring with Web tools, Fabric Watch, and Performance Monitor
Adaptive Networking Services, which uses network intelligence to anticipate congestion and to dynamically make adjustments in the fabric so that application traffic continues to flow

Planned availability date: May 23, 2008

The System Storage SAN40B-4 switch is a 40-port auto-sensing 1, 2, 4 or 8 Gbps FC switch delivering the next generation b-type single-chip architecture for FC SANs. With high port density and a slim 1U height, the SAN40B-4 enables the creation of very dense fabrics in a relatively small space. With its flexible Ports on Demand capability scaling from 24 to 32 or 40 ports, the SAN40B-4 provides excellent overall value as the foundation of a SAN with the ability to grow with an organization's SAN needs. This switch is designed to support FICON, FICON Cascading and FICON Control Unit Port.

The System Storage SAN24B-4 Express is a 24-port auto-sensing 1, 2, 4 or 8 Gbps FC switch, delivering the next generation single-chip architecture for FC SANs. The SAN24B-4 combines up to 24 ports of high-performance 8 Gbps technology and Ports on Demand scaling from 8 to 16 or 24. With key ease-of-installation and ease-of-use features, it provides excellent overall value as the foundation of a small SAN with the ability to grow with the organization's SAN needs. It is the latest entry-level offering in the Brocade family of entry-to-enterprise products. The SAN24B-4 Express FC switch offers dual functionality; it also can be configured either as a full fabric FC SAN switch or as an NPIV-enabled Access Gateway device that provides a single platform for all SAN connectivity. (Note: Access Gateway mode is only supported in 24-port configurations). Access Gateway mode enables seamless connectivity into heterogeneous SAN environments, enhances scalability and simplifies manageability.

The SAN40B-4 and SAN24B-4 Express switches include the following features:
8 Gbps FC interfaces 1, 2, 4 and 8 Gbps auto sensing FC ports.
Universal ports self-configure as E, F, M or FL ports and EX_Ports. EX_ports are activated on a per-port basis with the optional Integrated Routing license on the SAN40B-4 switch.
Unicast, multicast (255 groups) and broadcast data traffic types are supported.
ISL Trunking allows up to eight ports (at 1, 2, 4 or 8 Gbps speeds) between a pair of switches to be combined to form a single, logical ISL with a speed of up to 64 Gbit/sec (128 Gbps full duplex) for optimal bandwidth utilization and load balancing.
Dynamic Path Selection optimizes fabric-wide performance and load balancing by automatically routing data to the most efficient available path in the fabric.
Extended distance support enables full performance for remote native FC extension with support of up to 3000 km for native FC. Check the product manuals and release notes for distances supported for any specific models.

Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) optical transceivers support any combination of Shortwave (SW), Longwave (LW) and Extended Longwave (ELW) optical media on a single switch.
Fabric Operating System (FOS) delivers distributed intelligence throughout the network and enables a wide range of value-added applications.

Optional value-added software offerings.
Utilizes of the EZSwitchSetup wizard, which makes SAN configuration a 3-step point-and click task.

Extensive diagnostics and system-monitoring capabilities enhance RAS.
Fabric OS level 6.1.0 offers the following advanced functions, either with the base or as an optional feature:
Advanced Web Tools enables administration, configuration and maintenance of fabric switches and SANs.

Zoning segments a fabric into virtual private SANs.

Adaptive Networking Services uses network intelligence to anticipate congestion and to dynamically make adjustments in the fabric so that application traffic continues to flow.
Advanced Performance Monitoring helps identify end-to-end bandwidth usage by host/target pairs and is designed to provide information for capacity planning.
Enhanced Group Management (EGM). When added to the element management, the EGM license enables additional device-level management functionality for IBM b-type products and also allows large consolidated operations to groups of devices (for example, download, configuration upload and download).
Extended Fabrics extends SAN fabrics beyond the FC standard 10 km by optimizing the internal switch buffers to maintain performance on ISLs at distances up to 500 km.
Fabric Watch monitors mission-critical switch operations.
Full Fabric is required to enable E_Ports. The switch cannot be connected to another switch until Full Fabric is installed.

Integrated Routing allows any port in a SAN768B, SAN80B-4 and SAN40B-4 to be configured as an EX_port supporting FCR. This eliminates the need to add a routing blade or use the SAN18B-R for FCR purposes and also provides double the bandwidth for each FC router connection when connected to another 8 Gbps-capable port.
Trunking enables FC packets to be efficiently distributed across multiple Inter-Switch connections (links) between two SAN b-type fabric switches and directors, while preserving in-order delivery. Both SAN b-type fabric switches must have ISL Trunking activated.


The 8 Gbps SAN switches are designed to be easily upgradeable. They provide the flexibility to scale on a "pay-as-you-grow" basis, at a low incremental cost with its Ports on Demand capability of 8 to 16 to 24 ports or 24 to 32 to 40 ports or 48 to 64 to 80 ports.
8-Port Activation (#45W0524): The SAN40B-4 switch ships with the first 24 ports activated in the base product, with two additional increments of 8 ports that can be enabled on demand. Additional port activation is available with this optional feature to enable additional ports from 24 to 31 (first 8-port increment) or ports 32 to 39 (second 8-port activation). The first port is designated as port zero and the last port is designated as 39. Port activation features do not include fibre optic transceivers; however, all activated ports must be populated with SFPs.
8-Port Activation (#45W0502): The SAN24B-4 Express switch ships with the first 8-ports activated in the base product, with two additional increments of 8 ports that can be enabled on demand. Additional port activation is available with this optional feature to enable additional ports from 8 to 15 (first 8-port increment) or ports 16 to 23 (second 8- port activation). The first port is designated as port zero and the last port is designated as 23. Port activation features do not include fibre optic transceivers; however, all activated ports must be populated with SFPs.

B40 Enterprise Package (#45W0525): The B40 Enterprise Package offers a convenient method to order a set of optional features bundled into one orderable option. Part number 45W0525 consists of one of each Trunking Activation (#45W0528), Advanced Performance Monitor (#45W0527), Adaptive Networking (#45W0529), and quantity of two 8-Port Activations (#45W0524).

B24 Enterprise Package (#45W0503): The B24 Enterprise Package offers a convenient method to order a set of optional features bundled into one orderable option. Part number 45W0503 consists of one of each Fabric Watch (#45W0504), Trunking Activation (#45W0509), Advanced
Performance Monitor (#45W0508), Adaptive Networking (#45W0510), Full Fabric (#45W0512), EGM (#45W0630), and quantity of two 8-Port Activations (#45W0502).

Fabric Watch (#45W0504): Fabric Watch enables real-time proactive awareness of the health, performance, and security of each switch. It automatically alerts network managers to problems and helps avoid costly failures by providing:
Real-time tracking of numerous fabric and switch elements
Automatic event notifications when switch and fabric elements exceed thresholds
Security, availability and congestion monitoring thresholds and alerts

Extended Fabric (#45W0526 and #45W0505): Extended Fabric Activation extends SAN fabrics beyond the FC standard 10 km by optimizing the internal switch buffers to help maintain performance on ISLs at distances up to 500 km.

Advanced Performance Monitor (#45W0527 and #5W0508): Performance Monitoring Activation provides Performance Monitoring capability to help identify end-to-end bandwidth usage by host/target pairs and provides information for capacity planning.

Trunking Activation (#45W050528 and #45W0509): ISL Trunking Activation is designed to enable FC packets to be efficiently distributed across multiple Inter-Switch connections (links) between two SAN b-type fabric switches, while preserving in-order delivery. ISL Trunking is supported between any of the supported 2, 4 or 8 Gbps b-type models. Both SAN b-type fabric switches must have ISL Trunking activated.

All the new 8 Gbps platforms support a trunk group with up to 8 ports, up to 64 Gbps ISL trunks. The trunking groups are based on the user port number, with contiguous 8 ports as one group.
When connecting the 8 Gbps-capable models to legacy 2 or 4 Gbps-capable b-type fabric switch models, ISL trunking is supported with link speeds operational at lowest speed and FC packets distributed across ISLs for a combined bandwidth of up to 8 or 64 Gbps.

Adaptive Networking (#45W0529 and #45W0510): Adaptive Networking provides a set of capabilities allowing high-priority connections to obtain the bandwidth necessary for optimum performance, even in congested environments. The Quality of Service (QoS) SID/DID Prioritization and Ingress Rate Limiting features are the first components of this license option and are available on all 8 Gbps platforms.

Integrated Routing (#45W1063): Integrated Routing allows any port in a SAN768B, SAN80B-4 and SAN40B-4 to be configured as an EX_port supporting FCR. Integrated routing is FCR support on the 8 Gbps ports as a native capability, hence they are referred to as native EX_ports. This eliminates the need to add a routing blade or use the SAN18B-R for FCR purposes and also provides double the bandwidth for each FC router connection when connected to another 8 Gbps-capable port.

FCR capability on native EX_ports requires the new (#45W1063) Integrated Routing feature license. Previously, FCR capability was tied to the existence of supported hardware and did not require a separate license. The Integrated Routing license only affects native EX_Ports. The SAN18B-R EX_Ports and Routing functionality on FCIP ports (VEX_Ports) behave the same as before regardless of the presence of the Integrated Routing license. Using both the native EX_ports and EX_ports on a routing blade is not supported within a chassis. Only VEX_Ports may be used in the same chassis along with Integrated Routing EX_Ports. (Note that this only applies to the SAN768B since the SAN256B does not support Integrated Routing, even with 8 Gbps blades.)

Enhanced Group Management (EGM)(#45W0630): When added to the element management the EGM license enables additional device-level management functionality for IBM b-type products and also allows large consolidated operations to groups of devices (for example: firmware download, configuration upload and download).

FICON w/CUP Activation (#45W0531): FICON with CUP Activation provides in-band management of the supported SAN b-type switch, router and director products by System Automation for z/OS from IBM System z10, z9 EC, z9 BC and zseries 990, 900, 890 and 880 servers. To enable in-band management on multiple switches and directors, each switch, router or director must be configured with the appropriate FICON CUP feature. This support provides a single point of control for managing connectivity in active FICON I/O configurations. System Automation for OS/390 or z/OS can now concurrently manage IBM 9032 ESCON Directors, as well as supported SAN b-type switch and director products with FICON.

Transceivers The 8 Gbps SAN switches offer the following Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) optical transceivers:
SFP 4 Gbps SW (#45W0493)
SFP 4 Gbps 10 km LW (#45W0495)
SFP 4 Gbps 4 km LW (#45W0494)
SFP 4 Gbps 30 km ELW (#45W0499)
SFP 8 Gbps SW (#45W0500)

Selected SFP transceivers are also available in a 8-pack convenience packages:
SFP 4 Gbps SW 8-Pack (#45W0496)
SFP 4 Gbps 10 km LW 8-Pack (#45W0498)
SFP 4 Gbps 4 km LW 8-Pack (#45W0497)
SFP 8 Gbps SW 8-Pack (#45W0501)
The 8 Gbps SAN switches will require fibre optic cables for connection to the host systems and storage systems or devices. These cables can be supplied by the customer or ordered with the switch.