Extreme Networks Demos Data Center Bridging

Extreme Networks, Inc. announced product support for Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) protocols in multi-vendor environments.

The company recently launched its Extreme Networks ‘Open Fabric’ data center solutions providing increased scale, virtualization, and automation to maximize performance and efficiency.

Furthering its goals, Extreme Networks has completed testing in conjunction with the Fibre Channel Industry Association (FCIA) FCoE Plugfest, held at the University of New Hampshire Interoperability Lab (UNH-IOL) this month. UNH-IOL is an independent provider of broad-based testing and standards conformance services for the networking industry.  

This Plugfest focused on end-to-end tests that included FCoE with multiple FCFs (Fibre Channel Forwarders), Extreme Networks and other vendors Data Center Bridging (DCB) Ethernet switches and high availability configurations. The Plugfest provided an environment where leading Fibre Channel and Ethernet vendors came together to work in partnership on their respective FCoE products to ensure both interoperability and configurability between vendors. A total of 14 companies participated in the testing.

"Broad vendor interoperability testing and acceptance of emerging storage network technologies such as FCoE are critical to the wide scale adoption of converged storage networks," said David Ginsburg, sr. vice president of strategic marketing for Extreme Networks. "The successful testing of both FCoE and iSCSI with Extreme Networks DCB Ethernet switches in recent months at UNH IOL helps validate our Open Fabric approach."

The IEEE and UNH-IOL have contributed to the development of standards-based protocols to improve the performance of data and storage over Ethernet networks. At the heart of Extreme Networks architecture and networking product line is the capability to provide lossless, performance storage networking over multi-vendor Ethernet architectures, including iSCSI and FCoE, as opposed to proprietary network implementations.

Extreme Networks, as a participating member of the Plugfest, has incorporated DCB, including DCBX and FIP snooping into existing BlackDiamond and Summit switching products to enhance investment protection for customers. These products enable customers to build networks that will work in a multi-vendor environment and allow users to add DCB functionality over time – without the need to rip and replace existing infrastructure.