QLogic Introduces 8Gb FC / 1GbE ExpressModule

QLogic Corp. announced the first combination 8Gb Fibre Channel/1Gb Ethernet ExpressModule for Sun Microsystems‘ Sun Blade 6000 systems.

Like its 4Gb Fibre Channel predecessor, the second-generation, plug-and-play QEM3572 ExpressModule, available from Sun as the Sun StorageTek Dual 8Gb Fibre Channel Dual GbE ExpressModule Host Bus Adapter, consolidates Ethernet and Fibre Channel connectivity onto a single card. This consolidation increases I/O density, maximizes server space and provides customers with greater flexibility.

The Sun Blade 6000 Modular System is designed to support highly capable server blades based on UltraSPAR, Intel Xeon and AMD Opteron processors in the Solaris Operating System, Windows, Linux and VMware environments. In combination with the Sun Blade Virtualized Network Express Module, it is ideal for consolidation and virtualizing a wide variety of applications from the web to the back office.

With two 1Gb Ethernet ports and two 8Gb Fibre Channel ports, the ExpressModule unlocks the full virtualization capabilities of servers such as the Sun Blade X6270 server module, based on the Intel Xeon processor 5500 series. The combination of QLogic 8Gb Fibre Channel and Sun Blade 6000 servers provides enterprises with the ability to set up the maximum possible number of virtual machines per worldwide name. Based on the PCIe ExpressModule open industry standard, the QLogic adapter can be added to or removed from a Sun Blade server without powering down the server, ensuring maximum uptime.

"Servers such as the Sun Blade X6270 based on the Intel Xeon processor 5500 series, along with virtualization solutions like VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V, are driving a shift to 8Gb Fibre Channel," said Amit Vashi, vice president of marketing, Host Solutions Group, QLogic. "In the 8Gb era, we are once again first-to-market with a Fibre Channel/Ethernet ExpressModule for Sun Blade servers. Combined with the high-powered, multi-core Sun Blade 6000 series, the QEM3572 ExpressModule will meet the demands of bandwidth-hungry applications such as virtualization, disk-to-disk replication, video post production and cloud computing environments."

"Sun Blade 6000 servers with multi-core processing power provide customers with a complete eco-system that includes servers, networking and storage, virtualization, and simplified data management," said Dimitrios Dovas, director, x64 rackmount, Blades and Networking, Sun Microsystems. "Building on its non-proprietary ExpressModule architecture, QLogic has doubled Fibre Channel bandwidth with the latest version of this space-saving solution for storage and data networking."

Designed to protect existing investments and avoid ‘forklift’ replacements, the QEM3572 ExpressModule provides full backward compatibility with legacy 2Gb and 4Gb Fibre Channel devices while enabling a pathway to high-performance 8Gb connectivity. Like QLogic’s market-leading 2500 Series 8Gb Fibre Channel host bus adapters, the QEM3572 is easy to manage and extremely energy efficient. In addition the QEM3572 is optimized for security, reliability, availability and serviceability with features such as SAN-level authentication and overlapping protection domains.

The QLogic QEM3572 ExpressModule is based on QLogic’s market-leading, battle-tested Fibre Channel technology. With more than 10 years of field-proven interoperability and performance-tuning efforts, QLogic Fibre Channel technology ensures an optimal out-of-the-box, end-user experience. Compatible with 2Gb and 4Gb Fibre Channel solutions as well as Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) converged network adapters, QLogic 8Gb Fibre Channel technology delivers the performance critical to successful deployments in multi-workload virtualized environments. QLogic 8Gb Fibre Channel technology includes numerous enterprise-class features such as Message Signaled Interrupts (MSI-X) capabilities to optimize CPU performance, and Solaris Multiplexed I/O (MPxIO) failover for high availability, as well as the ability to address up to 16,000 LUNs per target, enabling deployment of large datacenter SAN fabrics.