Brocade Delivers Virtual Cluster Switching

Brocade introduced the first two products in a new line of 10 GigE data center switched specifically build for highly virtualized and cloud-optimized data centers. The switches eliminate the need for Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), collapsing the access and aggregation networking layers to create a flat, multipath, deterministic network. Brocade believes this approach is ideal for virtualized environments because it provides virtual machines (VMs) a greater sphere of mobility, increases network utilization, creates more resilient networks and simplifies the management of data center networks.


Brocade is initially introducing one- or two-rack-unit (1U or 2U) switches based on its sixth generation Ethernet switching ASIC and virtual cluster switching (VCS) technology. The switches have the ability to scale from 16 to 60 ports with pay-as-you-grow Ports on Demand (POD) licensing. The switches provide full 10 gigabits per second (Gbps) wire-speed performance from any port to any port, with latency of 600 nanoseconds (ns). The fabric uses low-latency, lossless, 10 Gbps Data Center Bridging (DCB) technology and is capable of running all types of data and storage traffic --including traditional IP, iSCSI, CIFS, NFS and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE).


"Today's infrastructure is not sufficient to handle new applications, and not flexible enough for a world where applications are mobile. It's clear that data center networks need to be upgraded to increase performance, reduce latency and eliminate downtime. They also need to be designed specifically to support highly virtualized and cloud-optimized data centers," said Dave Stevens, Brocade CTO. "We are delivering upon our Brocade One unified network strategy and vision by dramatically simplifying networks and increasing scalability without adding complexity. Today, the Brocade VDX 6720 switches, featuring Brocade VCS technology, deliver true cloud-optimized networking for the first time."http://www.brocade.com