FCoE Pushing HBAs and Ethernet Network Adapters

In newly released reports by Dell’Oro Group, a source for information about the telecommunications and networking industries, Fibre Channel over Ethernet, or FCoE, is forecast to be a major growth contributor to both the Fibre Channel HBA market and the Ethernet Network Adapter market.

"Despite setbacks from budget cuts caused by the economic downturn, we expect that Fibre Channel over Ethernet will drive growth in both the HBA and Ethernet network adapter markets," said Seamus Crehan, Vice President of Dell’Oro Group. "Although there are some hurdles, such as user inertia, to be overcome, we believe the value proposition of a single converged fabric is too compelling. We expect that FCoE adoption will first occur at the server access layer of the network with converged network adapters connecting mostly to blade and top-of-rack switches," added Crehan.

The reports also illustrate the importance of blade servers in the near-term adoption of high-speed networking.

Here is another press release of QLogic
on the SAN FC adapter market by the Dell’Oro Group

54% FC HBA market for QLogic in revenue for 2009
According to Dell’Oro

QLogic Corp. announced that for the sixth consecutive year, the company gained market share in storage area network (SAN) Fibre Channel adapters from its nearest competitor and maintained its number one position in 2009, according to new data published by the Dell’Oro Group in its Q4 2009 SAN Report. QLogic was the only vendor in the report to gain overall market share for calendar year 2009.

With 54.4 percent Fibre Channel host bus adapter (HBA) market share in revenue for 2009, QLogic widened its leadership position by 1.2 percentage points over the previous year, leading its nearest competitor by 16.5 percentage points. QLogic also maintained its number one position in every HBA category including standard, mezzanine, 4Gb and 8Gb adapters.

"Dell’Oro’s latest figures are validation that QLogic is consistently able to translate technology innovation into market share gains," said Amit Vashi, vice president of marketing, Host Solutions Group, QLogic. "This strategy has made us the clear leader in Fibre Channel adapters for the last six years and allowed us to lead the quickly developing FCoE space with numerous tier one OEMs shipping our converged networking products in 2009."

Here is another press release of Emulex
on the SAN FC adapter market by the Dell’Oro Group

Emulex Grows Faster than Industry
And captures four points of FC HBA revenue market share

Emulex Corporation announced that it captured over four percentage points of total Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter (HBA) revenue market share from its nearest competitor over the last quarter, according to the Dell’Oro Group. This represents a significant shift in preference towards Emulex, which was reflected in Emulex’s revenue growth last quarter that exceeded analyst expectations. Year over year, Emulex gained over four percentage points in total 8Gb/s Fibre Channel HBA revenue market share against its nearest competitor. Emulex’s current Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter (HBA) revenue market share is the highest it has been since 2007. In addition, Emulex has shown strong sequential growth in the emerging Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) Converged Network Adapter (CNA) market.

"This shift in share is proof that companies who produce products that deliver the industry-leading performance, a comprehensive and unified management suite and compelling total cost of ownership (TCO) can drive share even in the most competitive markets," said Steve Daheb, chief marketing officer and senior vice president of business development, Emulex. "We look forward to seeing this momentum continue over the coming months as Emulex announces multiple new design wins as part of the next x86 server refresh cycle and continues to invest in its core business."