Broadcom Expands Storage Connectivity with Emulex 16/32Gb FC HBAs

Broadcom Limited announced its family of Emulex Gen 6 FC HBAs to address the enterprise storage requirements of flash storage arrays, virtualized and cloud datacenters.

Data centers are rapidly deploying flash arrays to accelerate storage performance, but have ended up moving the performance bottleneck from the HDD to the storage network. Gen 6 FC alleviates the network bottleneck and enables data centers to get ROI from their flash storage investments.

Using industry-standard TPC-H benchmarks, research firm Demartek, LLC found that when Emulex Gen 6 HBAs were connected to an all-flash array, data warehousing transactions were completed in one-fourth the time compared to 8GFC (Gen 4) HBAs, and approximately half the time compared to Gen 5 (16GFC) HBAs, improving business operations and time-to-revenue.

The benefits of deploying Gen 6 HBAs include:

• Faster Flash: Deploy flash arrays together with the massive throughput of Gen 6 HBAs to avoid network bottlenecks, achieve maximum application performance and maximize ROI on Flash investments.
• Better Virtualization: Maximize VM density and more easily manage virtual environments.
• Lossless, Reliable Networking: Enjoy lossless, reliable storage networking with enhanced diagnostics and troubleshooting features.

The Emulex LPe32000-series is available in single and dual-port models with 32GFC optics. The LPe31000-series is 32Gb-ready. It is available in single-port and dual-port models with 16Gb FC optics. Optics can be upgraded to 32Gb, enabling data centers to scale-up when needed. A quad-port, low-profile Gen 6 16Gb FC HBA is also being announced. Single and dual-port models are available this month, with the quad-port becoming available next quarter.

“The rapid deployment of flash storage arrays and virtualization are causing new stresses on storage network infrastructures,” said Jeff Hoogenboom, VP and GM, Emulex connectivity division, Broadcom. “The new family of Emulex Gen 6 FC HBAs will offer our customers a solution that provides the low latency and massive bandwidth that data centers require for optimum flash array performance.“

“The growing deployment of all-flash storage arrays for high performance workloads has shifted the bottleneck to the network,” said Jack Rondoni, VP of storage networking, Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. “By consolidating workloads onto Emulex and Brocade’s Gen 6 FC technologies, enterprise customers can alleviate latency and performance concerns to build out a high performance network that meets their new storage technology requirements.”

“Customers choose FC because it is purpose-built for mission-critical storage,” said Seamus Crehan, president, Crehan Research. “The FC market is robust and we’ve actually seen HBA TAM growth recently which has been driven by an increasing number of flash-based external storage array deployments connected with Gen 5 FC. We believe the market will embrace higher-performance Gen 6 FC to further increase customer’s ROI on flash array investments.”

“We find that all-flash arrays have such high performance boundaries that they are now capable of all the bandwidth that the storage network can deliver,” said Dennis Martin, president of Demartek. “The results of benchmark testing by Demartek illustrate why every flash storage array should be combined with technology such as Emulex Gen 6 HBAs and Brocade Gen 6 switches.“

“NetApp All Flash Arrays make it easier and faster for enterprises to adapt to new opportunities while delivering consistent customer experiences,” said Lee Caswell, VP, Product, Solutions and Services Marketing at NetApp, Inc. “We look forward to working with Broadcom to help customers maximize the performance for their mission critical applications.“

“As data centers built on the flexible, scalable and reliable foundation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux migrate towards storing mission-critical data on flash arrays, they need to be able to match that performance with equally high-bandwidth, low-latency storage networks, such as that provided by Gen 6 FC,” said Jim Totton, VP and GM, platforms business unit, Red Hat, Inc. “Red Hat is pleased to work with Broadcom as we both seek to deliver the necessary solutions to enable the enterprise IT deployments of the future.”

“As virtualized infrastructures evolve, requirements for more bandwidth, lower costs and simplified management are increasing,” said Howard Hall, senior director, global technology partners organization, VMware, Inc. “Sharing the vision of reliable storage connectivity, simplified infrastructure operations and increased application SLA visibility, VMware is pleased to collaborate with Broadcom to bring technology advancements in storage connectivity to market.“