Brocade Collaborates With Dell Compellent

Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. announced it is helping to offer a complete, end-to-end solution based on the 16 Gbps FC protocol with Dell Compellent – from servers, to switches and storage – that doubles bandwidth for business critical applications within virtualized data center environments.

The end-to-end 16 Gbps FC solution is achieved by new enhancements to Compellent SC8000 storage arrays, including a next-generation 16 Gbps FC IO module for the array, along with the new Compellent Storage Center 6.3 software also announced at the same time.

In addition, Brocade announced availability of its M6505 16 Gbps FC embedded SAN I/O module by Dell, which enables Dell PowerEdge M1000e Blade Enclosures to directly connect to the higher bandwidth-capable Compellent storage arrays.

"Driven by the deployment of cloud and virtualization, storage continues to grow at unprecedented levels and demand for FC storage technology is increasing, along with an accelerated adoption of 16 Gbps-based SAN products," said Jason Nolet, VP, Data Center Networking Group, at Brocade. "The availability of end-to-end Dell Compellent 16 Gbps storage solutions will further this trend and strengthens our long-term partnership by combining a powerful data movement engine, intelligent software and Brocade’s industry-leading FC switch technology to allow enterprises to cut cost, time and risk while rapidly responding to change."

"Our new end-to-end 16Gbps FC solutions integrated from servers to networking to storage will allow Dell Compellent customers to improve their storage availability and performance, while demonstrating our focus on investment protection and flexible, future proof architecture," said Dan McConnell, director of Product Marketing and Management, Dell Compellent. "With these new solutions, we are able to provide our customers with scalable performance to meet their growing, data-driven applications, backed by our award winning support ecosystem."

The M6505 SAN I/O module provides price/performance value and enterprise-class functionality for PowerEdge M1000e Blade Enclosures. It is configurable in 12 or 24 ports and supports 4, 8 or 16 Gbps speeds. It complements other members of the Brocade SAN family offered by Dell, which includes the Brocade 6510 Switch, configurable between 24 and 48 ports, and the Brocade DCX 8510 Backbone, available in 4- and 8-slot configurations.

Features of Brocade SAN solutions include second-generation inter-chassis links that enable flatter, faster, and simpler fabrics with fewer cables that increase consolidation, while reducing network complexity and costs. In addition, a new port type, Diagnostic Ports (D_Ports), enables administrators to quickly identify and isolate optics and cable problems, reducing fabric deployment and diagnostic times.

Availability
The new Dell Compellent 16 Gbps-capable storage arrays will be available worldwide with the release of Dell Compellent Storage Center 6.3 software to key customers in early 2013 and with general availability in Q2 2013.