Brocade, a leader in datacenter networking solutions that help enterprises connect and manage their information, has announced that it will be working with Intel Corporation to deliver next-generation server adapters for evolving datacenter networks. Brocade will provide its storage networking software technology and expertise, along with Intel's 10 Gigabit Enhanced Ethernet server adapter hardware, to deliver high-performance Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) server connectivity. This announcement further advances the Brocade Datacenter Fabric (DCF) architecture for high performance, multiprotocol datacenter networks.
The Brocade approach will provide customers with a new server connectivity option to seamlessly protect and extend their current investments in Storage Area Networks (SANs). The evolving FCoE standard is currently being worked on and supported by more than 15 Fibre Channel Industry Association (FCIA) members, including Brocade. FCoE offers a new choice for consolidated server I/O connectivity in the datacenter, which will result in a greater quantity of servers having access to the well-understood benefits of storage networks. Customer benefits of this technology will include:
Seamless extension and protection of existing storage investments;
Lower, long-term operating costs via consolidated connectivity and management;
A management model consistent with that used in today's SANs;
A unified datacenter fabric that meets the reliability, latency, and performance requirements for storage and broader datacenter connectivity;
Additional server connectivity options for more cost-effective datacenter networking, and
A reduction in multiple server I/O and parallel network infrastructure commonly used in datacenters.
The FCoE standard is currently being worked on in the INCITS Fibre Channel (T11) Technical Committee and is expected to be completed in the second half of 2008.
"Our collaboration with Intel brings together Brocade's expertise in Fibre Channel with Intel's strength in Ethernet adapters to enable the consolidation of server I/O into a unified datacenter fabric, said Madhu Matta, vice president of the Brocade Server Connectivity Division. "The solution will give our customers a choice to enable greater consolidation of server connectivity while preserving the benefits of their current storage networking and datacenter infrastructure. "Intel believes that unified fabric over Ethernet will further simplify the virtualized datacenter, said Tom Swinford, General Manager of Intel's LAN Access Division.
"The enhanced Ethernet features in Intel's 10 Gigabit Ethernet adapters will help enable Brocade's solution to provide the reliable, high-performance server connectivity that our LAN and SAN customers are seeking. The products and technology resulting from this collaboration will be available in early 2009.