Brocade Communications Systems
Encyclopedia
Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. , based in Silicon Valley
(California
, USA), is a vendor of storage area network
(SAN) hardware and software. The company also designs, manufactures, and sells networking products and management applications for local
, metro
, and wide area network
s. , it holds the largest market share in SAN switches.
(CEO and VC
funding), Paul Bonderson (VP Engineering), and Kumar Malavalli
(Standards and Technology). Dave Banks (Systems and ASIC
s) and Paul Ramsay (Software) came onboard immediately thereafter. Brocade released its first Fibre Channel switch, the SilkWorm, in early 1997 based on the "Stitch" ASIC
and their own VxWorks
-based firmware (Fabric OS
or FOS). SilkWorm eventually came to be a long-lived marketing designation for an entire line of products, with the first product being retro-named the SilkWorm 1000 (SW1000) to distinguish it from subsequent platforms. Bruce Bergman was the CEO during most of this period.
Product names were generally puns on various kinds of woven fabric, since a switched Fibre Channel network is also called a "fabric
".
In 1998, Gregory Reyes
joined the company as CEO. During the next three years of the dot-com boom and bust
, Brocade released its "Flannel" ASIC (which supported an FC-AL interface to a FC-SW fabric), added services (such as zoning
and support for translating private loop devices into the fabric), and ultimately the next generation of switches based on the "LOOM" ASIC. In 2001, Brocade released the SilkWorm 6400, which was designated "director" similarly to IBM ESCON directors already well-established on mainframe computer
market. The term "director" became universally used for more expensive FC switches.
From 2001 to 2003, Brocade released switches based on its third generation ASIC, "BLOOM" (Big LOOM). BLOOM introduced increased throughput of 2 Gbit/s instead of 1 Gbit/s. Brocade integrated BLOOM into its first "pure" director, the SilkWorm 12000, in April 2002. The director offered up to 128 ports in two 64-port pseudo-switches (domains). The 12000 represented several internal architecture and technical changes besides the new ASIC: it had an upgraded control processor architecture (Intel i960
moved to PowerPC 405GP), changed the embedded operating system (FOS v4.0 migrated from Wind River Systems VxWorks to MontaVista Linux), and introduced the backplane
architecture (hierarchical PCI buses with replaceable blades attached to a backplane). The Bloom ASIC also introduced a notable capability of frame-level Fibre Channel trunking, which provided high throughput with load balancing across multiple cables. It needed to be implemented in the ASIC hardware to ensure in-order delivery of frames. Also hot firmware upgrade was introduced with FOS v4.1 in October 2003.
At the time, Brocade's main rival, McDATA, held over 90% market share in director segment, owing to strong position first in ESCON market and then in FICON market. The SilkWorm 12000 director gained over one-third of the market share after its release in 2002. Brocade added mainframe customers with FICON
and FICON CUP support on the SilkWorm 12000.
In 2003, the SilkWorm 12000 was named “Storage Product of the Year” by Computing.
In 2004, the BLOOM II improved on the previous ASIC design by reducing its power consumption and die size, while maintaining 2 Gbit/s technology. It powered Brocade’s second generation director, the SilkWorm 24000. Still a 128 port design, it was the first one that could operate as a single 128-port switch (a single domain). The new director also used approximately two thirds less power than its predecessor. Brocade introduced also its first multiprotocol Fibre Channel router, the SilkWorm 7420. Brocade also acquired Rhapsody Networks (a SAN virtualization startup company
). This was also the time frame in which Brocade first entered into the embedded switch market, delivering multiple switches physically integrated into other vendors' hardware, such as storage controllers and blade server
chassis.
As of March 2009, Brocade had sold over 10 million SAN switch ports with over 44,000 directors installed, and held 75.5% of the overall SAN switch market (Dell'Oro Group, 1Q09 SAN Report).
In Late 2010 Brocade released the VCS product line. The individual products are identified by the VDX moniker. These are CEE/Data center bridging
(DCB) and TRILL based switches allowing for multi-hop Fibre Channel over Ethernet
(FCoE).
resigned as CEO after being indicted for securities fraud relating to backdating
stock option grants. After spending about a year investigating these allegations, the Department of Justice (DoJ), through the US Attorney’s Office
, the SEC
, and the FBI filed criminal and civil charges against Reyes. In roughly the same time frame, the DoJ, SEC, and FBI also began investigating over 100 other companies for similar activities. Greg Reyes and Stephanie Jensen, the former vice president of HR, were charged with 12 counts of fraud. Two counts were dismissed, and on August 7, 2007, Reyes was convicted on the remaining 10 counts. On January 16, 2008, he was sentenced to 21 months in prison and ordered to pay a $15 million dollar fine.
Stephanie Jensen, Brocade's former vice president of human resources, was convicted in a separate trial. On March 19, 2008, she was sentenced to four months in prison and ordered to pay a $1.25 million fine.
The convictions of both Reyes and Jensen were appealed. On August 18, 2009 the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned Gregory Reyes' convictions and sent the case back to the lower courts for retrial, where he was again convicted, and sentenced to 18 months in prison and a $10 million fine. Reyes is incarcerated at the Taft Correctional Institution in Taft, California, with an anticipated release date of December 29, 2011. , a second appeal remains pending.
Michael Klayko was named CEO in January of 2005, when Reyes left the company. Klayko was previously CEO and President of Rhapsody Networks, and had joined Brocade in January 2003 as a result of the acquisition of Rhapsody by Brocade.
along with other features.
On January 29, 2007, Brocade completed its largest acquisition to date by acquiring McDATA Corporation, one of its leading competitors.
The deal was initially valued at $713 million when announced August 8, 2006.
Brocade rebranded the new portfolio of products: former McDATA devices were sold under Mxxxx designations. Brocade dropped the SilkWorm (SW) designation from its products' names starting with Brocade 5000 switch.
, Brocade employees held leadership positions in standards groups, including the T11 Technical Committees (INCITS
), the Storage Networking Industry Association
(SNIA), and the Data Management Task Force (DMTF).
management agreed to allow the company to be acquired by Brocade for approximately $3 billion in cash and stock. On November 7, they agreed to a reduced purchase price of roughly $2.6B in an all-cash transaction when Brocade was unable to come up with a $400MM tranche of financing required to complete the original deal. A meeting was scheduled for December 17, 2008, where Foundry shareholders approved the amended agreement.
The acquisition was completed on December 18, 2008.
Brocade added the former Foundry Networks BigIron, FastIron, IronPoint, IronShield, IronView, IronWare, NetIron, SecureIron, ServerIron, and TurboIron families to its products.
2nd Generation - 1999
3rd Generation - 2001
4th Generation - 2004
5th Generation - 2008
switches and directors; Ethernet switches and routers; application delivery controller
s (load balancers, etc.); fabric extension switches; embedded switch blades; Fibre Channel host bus adapters (HBAs); and Converged Network Adapter
s (CNAs). Other hardware solutions from Brocade support common protocols that include iSCSI
, FCIP, GigE
, FICON
, FCoE, CEE, and Layer 2-7 networking protocols.
-B series switches. Dell retains more or less the Brocade's model name. Unlike the own switches with different software images for Ethernet-switches being used as a layer-2 switch or layer-3 router the firmware for the B-series PowerConnect switches is a combined firmware.
The switches can also run the layer 4-7 switching firmware from Brocade to use these switches as hardware-based network load balancer
Besides the pure Ethernet-switches (which are originally Foundry
swiches as B-ML, B-MX and B-FCX switches, Dell also offers Fibre Channel over Ethernet
(FCoE) and Fibre Channel
switches:
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
(California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, USA), is a vendor of storage area network
Storage area network
A storage area network is a dedicated network that provides access to consolidated, block level data storage. SANs are primarily used to make storage devices, such as disk arrays, tape libraries, and optical jukeboxes, accessible to servers so that the devices appear like locally attached devices...
(SAN) hardware and software. The company also designs, manufactures, and sells networking products and management applications for local
Local area network
A local area network is a computer network that interconnects computers in a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building...
, metro
Metropolitan area network
A metropolitan area network is a computer network that usually spans a city or a large campus. A MAN usually interconnects a number of local area networks using a high-capacity backbone technology, such as fiber-optical links, and provides up-link services to wide area networks and the...
, and wide area network
Wide area network
A wide area network is a telecommunication network that covers a broad area . Business and government entities utilize WANs to relay data among employees, clients, buyers, and suppliers from various geographical locations...
s. , it holds the largest market share in SAN switches.
History
Brocade was founded in August 1995 by Seth NeimanSeth Neiman
Seth Neiman is a businessman and professional racing driver. He races for and is the team principal of Flying Lizard Motorsports in the American Le Mans Series.-Racing Career:...
(CEO and VC
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
funding), Paul Bonderson (VP Engineering), and Kumar Malavalli
Kumar Malavalli
Kumar Malavalli is a noted techonology entrepreneur and philanthropist, with specific interests in education and healthcare.Kumar is a co-author of Fibre Channel, a technology for developing storage area networks...
(Standards and Technology). Dave Banks (Systems and ASIC
ASIC
ASIC may refer to:* Application-specific integrated circuit, an integrated circuit developed for a particular use, as opposed to a customised general-purpose device.* ASIC programming language, a dialect of BASIC...
s) and Paul Ramsay (Software) came onboard immediately thereafter. Brocade released its first Fibre Channel switch, the SilkWorm, in early 1997 based on the "Stitch" ASIC
ASIC
ASIC may refer to:* Application-specific integrated circuit, an integrated circuit developed for a particular use, as opposed to a customised general-purpose device.* ASIC programming language, a dialect of BASIC...
and their own VxWorks
VxWorks
VxWorks is a real-time operating system developed as proprietary software by Wind River Systems of Alameda, California, USA. First released in 1987, VxWorks is designed for use in embedded systems.- History :...
-based firmware (Fabric OS
Fabric OS
In storage area networking, Fabric OS is the firmware for Brocade Communications Systems's Fibre Channel switches and Fibre Channel directors. It is also known as FOS and Fabos.-First generation:...
or FOS). SilkWorm eventually came to be a long-lived marketing designation for an entire line of products, with the first product being retro-named the SilkWorm 1000 (SW1000) to distinguish it from subsequent platforms. Bruce Bergman was the CEO during most of this period.
Product names were generally puns on various kinds of woven fabric, since a switched Fibre Channel network is also called a "fabric
Switched fabric
Switched fabric, switching fabric, or just fabric, is a network topology where network nodes connect with each other via one or more network switches . The term is popular in telecommunication, Fibre Channel storage area networks and other high-speed networks, including InfiniBand...
".
In 1998, Gregory Reyes
Gregory Reyes
Gregory Reyes is an American businessman who most recently served as the Chief Executive Officer for Brocade Communications...
joined the company as CEO. During the next three years of the dot-com boom and bust
Dot-com bubble
The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...
, Brocade released its "Flannel" ASIC (which supported an FC-AL interface to a FC-SW fabric), added services (such as zoning
Fibre Channel zoning
In storage networking, Fibre Channel zoning is the partitioning of a Fibre Channel fabric into smaller subsets to restrict interference, add security, and to simplify management. While a SAN makes available several virtual disks , each system connected to the SAN should only be allowed access to a...
and support for translating private loop devices into the fabric), and ultimately the next generation of switches based on the "LOOM" ASIC. In 2001, Brocade released the SilkWorm 6400, which was designated "director" similarly to IBM ESCON directors already well-established on mainframe computer
Mainframe computer
Mainframes are powerful computers used primarily by corporate and governmental organizations for critical applications, bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing.The term originally referred to the...
market. The term "director" became universally used for more expensive FC switches.
From 2001 to 2003, Brocade released switches based on its third generation ASIC, "BLOOM" (Big LOOM). BLOOM introduced increased throughput of 2 Gbit/s instead of 1 Gbit/s. Brocade integrated BLOOM into its first "pure" director, the SilkWorm 12000, in April 2002. The director offered up to 128 ports in two 64-port pseudo-switches (domains). The 12000 represented several internal architecture and technical changes besides the new ASIC: it had an upgraded control processor architecture (Intel i960
Intel i960
Intel's i960 was a RISC-based microprocessor design that became popular during the early 1990s as an embedded microcontroller, becoming a best-selling CPU in that field, along with the competing AMD 29000...
moved to PowerPC 405GP), changed the embedded operating system (FOS v4.0 migrated from Wind River Systems VxWorks to MontaVista Linux), and introduced the backplane
Backplane
A backplane is a group of connectors connected in parallel with each other, so that each pin of each connector is linked to the same relative pin of all the other connectors forming a computer bus. It is used as a backbone to connect several printed circuit boards together to make up a complete...
architecture (hierarchical PCI buses with replaceable blades attached to a backplane). The Bloom ASIC also introduced a notable capability of frame-level Fibre Channel trunking, which provided high throughput with load balancing across multiple cables. It needed to be implemented in the ASIC hardware to ensure in-order delivery of frames. Also hot firmware upgrade was introduced with FOS v4.1 in October 2003.
At the time, Brocade's main rival, McDATA, held over 90% market share in director segment, owing to strong position first in ESCON market and then in FICON market. The SilkWorm 12000 director gained over one-third of the market share after its release in 2002. Brocade added mainframe customers with FICON
FICON
FICON is the IBM proprietary name for the ANSI FC-SB-3 Single-Byte Command Code Sets-3 Mapping Protocol for Fibre Channel protocol. It is a FC layer 4 protocol used to map both IBM’s antecedent channel-to-control-unit cabling infrastructure and protocol onto standard FC services and infrastructure...
and FICON CUP support on the SilkWorm 12000.
In 2003, the SilkWorm 12000 was named “Storage Product of the Year” by Computing.
In 2004, the BLOOM II improved on the previous ASIC design by reducing its power consumption and die size, while maintaining 2 Gbit/s technology. It powered Brocade’s second generation director, the SilkWorm 24000. Still a 128 port design, it was the first one that could operate as a single 128-port switch (a single domain). The new director also used approximately two thirds less power than its predecessor. Brocade introduced also its first multiprotocol Fibre Channel router, the SilkWorm 7420. Brocade also acquired Rhapsody Networks (a SAN virtualization startup company
Startup company
A startup company or startup is a company with a limited operating history. These companies, generally newly created, are in a phase of development and research for markets...
). This was also the time frame in which Brocade first entered into the embedded switch market, delivering multiple switches physically integrated into other vendors' hardware, such as storage controllers and blade server
Blade server
A blade server is a stripped down server computer with a modular design optimized to minimize the use of physical space and energy. Whereas a standard rack-mount server can function with a power cord and network cable, blade servers have many components removed to save space, minimize power...
chassis.
As of March 2009, Brocade had sold over 10 million SAN switch ports with over 44,000 directors installed, and held 75.5% of the overall SAN switch market (Dell'Oro Group, 1Q09 SAN Report).
In Late 2010 Brocade released the VCS product line. The individual products are identified by the VDX moniker. These are CEE/Data center bridging
Data center bridging
Data center bridging refers to a set of enhancements to Ethernet local area networks for use in data center environments. Specifically, DCB goals are, for selected traffic, to eliminate loss due to queue overflow and to be able to allocate bandwidth on links. Essentially, DCB enables, to some...
(DCB) and TRILL based switches allowing for multi-hop Fibre Channel over Ethernet
Fibre Channel over Ethernet
Fibre Channel over Ethernet is an encapsulation of Fibre Channel frames over Ethernet networks. This allows Fibre Channel to use 10 Gigabit Ethernet networks while preserving the Fibre Channel protocol...
(FCoE).
Options backdating
In 2005, Gregory ReyesGregory Reyes
Gregory Reyes is an American businessman who most recently served as the Chief Executive Officer for Brocade Communications...
resigned as CEO after being indicted for securities fraud relating to backdating
Options backdating
Options backdating is the practice of issuing options contracts on a later date than that which the options have listed. While options backdating is not, in and of itself, an illegal practice, intentional backdating that coincides with low underlying stock prices and accounting reports that claim...
stock option grants. After spending about a year investigating these allegations, the Department of Justice (DoJ), through the US Attorney’s Office
United States Attorney
United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...
, the SEC
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is a federal agency which holds primary responsibility for enforcing the federal securities laws and regulating the securities industry, the nation's stock and options exchanges, and other electronic securities markets in the United States...
, and the FBI filed criminal and civil charges against Reyes. In roughly the same time frame, the DoJ, SEC, and FBI also began investigating over 100 other companies for similar activities. Greg Reyes and Stephanie Jensen, the former vice president of HR, were charged with 12 counts of fraud. Two counts were dismissed, and on August 7, 2007, Reyes was convicted on the remaining 10 counts. On January 16, 2008, he was sentenced to 21 months in prison and ordered to pay a $15 million dollar fine.
Stephanie Jensen, Brocade's former vice president of human resources, was convicted in a separate trial. On March 19, 2008, she was sentenced to four months in prison and ordered to pay a $1.25 million fine.
The convictions of both Reyes and Jensen were appealed. On August 18, 2009 the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned Gregory Reyes' convictions and sent the case back to the lower courts for retrial, where he was again convicted, and sentenced to 18 months in prison and a $10 million fine. Reyes is incarcerated at the Taft Correctional Institution in Taft, California, with an anticipated release date of December 29, 2011. , a second appeal remains pending.
Michael Klayko was named CEO in January of 2005, when Reyes left the company. Klayko was previously CEO and President of Rhapsody Networks, and had joined Brocade in January 2003 as a result of the acquisition of Rhapsody by Brocade.
Acquisition of McDATA
Starting in late 2005, Brocade announced 4 Gbit/s switches, embedded switches, and directors based on the "Condor" ASIC. Brocade annonced the SilkWorm 48000, a director with up to 384 ports and introduced NPIVNPIV
N_Port ID Virtualization or NPIV is a Fibre Channel facility allowing multiple N_Port IDs to share a single physical N_Port. This allows multiple Fibre Channel initiators to occupy a single physical port, easing hardware requirements in Storage Area Network design, especially where virtual SANs...
along with other features.
On January 29, 2007, Brocade completed its largest acquisition to date by acquiring McDATA Corporation, one of its leading competitors.
The deal was initially valued at $713 million when announced August 8, 2006.
Brocade rebranded the new portfolio of products: former McDATA devices were sold under Mxxxx designations. Brocade dropped the SilkWorm (SW) designation from its products' names starting with Brocade 5000 switch.
, Brocade employees held leadership positions in standards groups, including the T11 Technical Committees (INCITS
INCITS
The InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards, or INCITS , is an ANSI-accredited forum of IT developers. It was formerly known as the X3 and NCITS....
), the Storage Networking Industry Association
Storage Networking Industry Association
An association of producers and consumers of storage networking products, whose goal is to further storage networking technology and applications.The Storage Networking Industry Association, or SNIA, was incorporated in December, 1997, and is a registered 501 non-profit trade association...
(SNIA), and the Data Management Task Force (DMTF).
Acquisition of Foundry Networks
On July 21, 2008, Foundry NetworksFoundry Networks
Foundry Networks, Inc. was a networking hardware vendor selling high-end Ethernet switches and routers. The company was founded in 1996 by Bobby R. Johnson, Jr. and was headquartered in Santa Clara, California, USA...
management agreed to allow the company to be acquired by Brocade for approximately $3 billion in cash and stock. On November 7, they agreed to a reduced purchase price of roughly $2.6B in an all-cash transaction when Brocade was unable to come up with a $400MM tranche of financing required to complete the original deal. A meeting was scheduled for December 17, 2008, where Foundry shareholders approved the amended agreement.
The acquisition was completed on December 18, 2008.
Brocade added the former Foundry Networks BigIron, FastIron, IronPoint, IronShield, IronView, IronWare, NetIron, SecureIron, ServerIron, and TurboIron families to its products.
History of Brocade ASICs
1st Generation - 1997- ASIC: Stitch
- Ports per ASIC: 2
- Switches: SilkWorm 1000
2nd Generation - 1999
- ASIC: LOOM
- Speed: 1 Gbit/s
- Ports per ASIC: 4
- Directors: SilkWorm 6400
- Switches: SilkWorm 2400, 2800, etc.
3rd Generation - 2001
- ASIC: BLOOM and BLOOM II
- Speed: 2 Gbit/s
- Ports per ASIC: 8
- Introduced ISL trunking (4-port groups called quads) and frame filtering
- Directors: SilkWorm 12000, SilkWorm 24000
- Switches: SilkWorm 3200, 3800, 3850, etc.
4th Generation - 2004
- ASIC: Condor
- Speed: 4 Gbit/s
- Ports per ASIC: 32
- Introduced enhanced trunking (8-port groups)
- Directors: SilkWorm 48000
- Switches: SilkWorm 4100, 4900, etc.
- Router: 7500, FR4-18i (Director blade)
- ASIC: GoldenEye (scaled-down Condor)
- Speed: 4 Gbit/s
- Ports per ASIC: 24
- Switches: SilkWorm 200E
5th Generation - 2008
- ASIC: Condor 2
- Speed: 8 Gbit/s
- Ports per ASIC: 40
- Directors: DCX Backbone
- Switch: 5100 (1 ASIC, 40 ports)
- ASIC: GoldenEye 2
- Speed: 8 Gbit/s
- Ports per ASIC: 24
- Switches: 300 (1 ASIC, 24 ports), 5300 (9 ASICS, 80 ports)
Brocade hardware
Brocade hardware products include Fibre ChannelFibre Channel
Fibre Channel, or FC, is a gigabit-speed network technology primarily used for storage networking. Fibre Channel is standardized in the T11 Technical Committee of the InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards , an American National Standards Institute –accredited standards...
switches and directors; Ethernet switches and routers; application delivery controller
Application delivery controller
An application delivery controller is a network device in the datacenter that helps perform common tasks done by web sites in an effort to remove load from the web servers themselves. Many also provide load balancing. They usually sit between the firewall/router and the web farm. The ADC is in...
s (load balancers, etc.); fabric extension switches; embedded switch blades; Fibre Channel host bus adapters (HBAs); and Converged Network Adapter
Converged Network Adapter
A converged network adapter , also called a converged network interface controller , is a computer input/output device that combines the functionality of a Host Bus Adaptor to a storage area network with a network interface controller for a general-purpose computer network.-Support :Some products...
s (CNAs). Other hardware solutions from Brocade support common protocols that include iSCSI
ISCSI
In computing, iSCSI , is an abbreviation of Internet Small Computer System Interface, an Internet Protocol -based storage networking standard for linking data storage facilities. By carrying SCSI commands over IP networks, iSCSI is used to facilitate data transfers over intranets and to manage...
, FCIP, GigE
Gige
Gige is a village in Somogy county, Hungary. It has 383 inhabitants .- External links :*...
, FICON
FICON
FICON is the IBM proprietary name for the ANSI FC-SB-3 Single-Byte Command Code Sets-3 Mapping Protocol for Fibre Channel protocol. It is a FC layer 4 protocol used to map both IBM’s antecedent channel-to-control-unit cabling infrastructure and protocol onto standard FC services and infrastructure...
, FCoE, CEE, and Layer 2-7 networking protocols.
| Brocade name | Brocade switch type |
McDATA name before acquisition |
Max. port speed (Gb/s) |
Max. ports | IBM reseller type-model |
HP reseller designation |
EMC Connectrix reseller designation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1000 | 1 | - | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 2000 | 7 | - | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 2800 | 2, 6 | - | 1 | 16 | 2109-S16 | 16B | DS-16B |
| 3000 | 18 | - | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 3014 | 33 | - | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 3016 | 22 | - | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 3200 | 16 | - | 2 | 8 | 3534-F08 | 2/8 | DS-8B2 |
| 3250 | 27 | - | 2 | 8 | 2005-H08 | 2/8V | ? |
| 3800 | 9 | - | 2 | 16 | 2109-F16 | 2/16 | DS-16B2 |
| 3800VL | 17 | - | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 3850 | 26 | - | 2 | 16 | 2005-H16 | 2/16V | DS-16B3 |
| 3900 | 12 | - | 2 | 32 | 2109-F32 | 2/32 | DS-32B2 |
| 12000 | 10 | - | 2 | 2 x 64 | 2109-M12 | 2/64 | ED-12000-B |
| 24000 | 21 | - | 4 | 128 | 2109-M14 | 2/128 | ED-24000B |
| 48000 | 42 | - | 4 | 384 | 2109-M48 | 4/256 | ED-48000B |
| 200E | 34 | - | 4 | 16 | 2005-B16 | 4/16 | DS-220B |
| 4100 | 32 | - | 4 | 32 | 2005-B32 | 4/32 | DS-4100B |
| 4900 | 44 | - | 4 | 64 | 2005-B64 | 4/64 | DS-4900B |
| 5000 | 58 | - | 4 | 32 | 2005-B5K | 4/32B | DS-5000B |
| AP-7420 | ? | - | 4 | 16 | 2109-A16 | ? | ? |
| 7500 | 46 | - | 4 | 16 | 2005-R18 | 400 MPR | ? |
| 7600 app | 55.2 | - | 4 | 16 | ? | ? | ? |
| DCX | 62 | - | 8 | 768 | 2499-384 | DC Backbone | ED-DCX-B |
| 300 | 71 | - | 8 | 24 | 2498-24E | 8/24 | DS-300B |
| 5100 | 66 | - | 8 | 40 | 2498-B40 | 8/40 | DS-5100B |
| 5300 | 64 | - | 8 | 80 | 2498-B80 | 8/80 | DS-5300B |
| VA-40FC | ? | - | 8 | 40 | ? | ? | ? |
| Mi10K | - | Intrepid 10000 | 10 | 256 | 2027-256 | ? | ED-10000M |
| M6140 | - | Intrepid 6140 | 10 | 140 | 2027-140 | 2/140 | ED-140M |
| ? | - | ED-6064 | 10 | 64 | 2032-064 | 2/64 | ED-64M |
| ? | - | Sphereon 4300 | 2 | 12 | 2026-E12 | ? | ? |
| M4400 | - | Sphereon 4400 | 4 | 16 | 2026-416 | ? | DS-4400M |
| ? | - | Sphereon 4500 | 2 | 24 | 2026-224 | ? | DS-24M2 |
| M4700 | - | Sphereon 4700 | 4 | 32 | 2026-432 | ? | DS-4700M |
| ? | - | Sphereon 3232 | 2 | 32 | 2027-232 | ? | DS-32M2 |
| ? | - | ES-3016 | 1 | 16 | 2031-016 | ? | DS-16M |
| ? | - | ES-3032 | 1 | 32 | 2031-032 | ? | DS-32M |
| ? | - | ES-3216 | 2 | 16 | 2031-216 | ? | DS-16M2 |
Dell PowerConnect B-series
Besides selling these switches under their own name, some models are also sold as Dell PowerConnectDell PowerConnect
PowerConnect is a Dell series of network switches. The PowerConnect "classic" switches are based on Broadcom or Marvell Technology Group fabric and firmware. Dell also offers the PowerConnect J-series which are Juniper Networks switches and the PowerConnect B-series which are Dell-branded Brocade...
-B series switches. Dell retains more or less the Brocade's model name. Unlike the own switches with different software images for Ethernet-switches being used as a layer-2 switch or layer-3 router the firmware for the B-series PowerConnect switches is a combined firmware.
The switches can also run the layer 4-7 switching firmware from Brocade to use these switches as hardware-based network load balancer
Besides the pure Ethernet-switches (which are originally Foundry
Foundry Networks
Foundry Networks, Inc. was a networking hardware vendor selling high-end Ethernet switches and routers. The company was founded in 1996 by Bobby R. Johnson, Jr. and was headquartered in Santa Clara, California, USA...
swiches as B-ML, B-MX and B-FCX switches, Dell also offers Fibre Channel over Ethernet
Fibre Channel over Ethernet
Fibre Channel over Ethernet is an encapsulation of Fibre Channel frames over Ethernet networks. This allows Fibre Channel to use 10 Gigabit Ethernet networks while preserving the Fibre Channel protocol...
(FCoE) and Fibre Channel
Fibre Channel
Fibre Channel, or FC, is a gigabit-speed network technology primarily used for storage networking. Fibre Channel is standardized in the T11 Technical Committee of the InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards , an American National Standards Institute –accredited standards...
switches:
- B-DCX chassis-switches for fibre-channel at 1, 2, 4 and 8 Gbit/s
- M5424 blade for the Dell M1000eDell M1000eThe Dell blade server solutions are built around their new M1000e enclosure that can hold their complete range of server blades and an extensive range of I/O modules like ethernet switches, fibre-channel switches etc....
blade-chassis offering FCoE capabilities for blade-servers with 16 internal 10 Gbit/s FCoE interfaces and 8 external 8 Gbit/s FC interfaces as well as external 10 Gbit/s ports - B5300 80 port Fibre Channel switch: 80 port 8 Gbit/s FC switch
- B5100 40 port Fibre Channel switch: 40 port 8 Gbit/s FC switch
- B300 24 port FC switch
- B8000/B8000e: top-of-rack FCoE switch
- Brocade 1020 CNA: FCoE 10 Gigabit Ethernet10 Gigabit EthernetThe 10 gigabit Ethernet computer networking standard was first published in 2002. It defines a version of Ethernet with a nominal data rate of 10 Gbit/s , ten times faster than gigabit Ethernet.10 gigabit Ethernet defines only full duplex point to point links which are generally connected by...
Converged Network AdapterConverged Network AdapterA converged network adapter , also called a converged network interface controller , is a computer input/output device that combines the functionality of a Host Bus Adaptor to a storage area network with a network interface controller for a general-purpose computer network.-Support :Some products... - Brocade 815 and 825 Host Bus Adaptor for pure FibreChannel networks
Software
The Brocade product portfolio also includes network management applications.- SAN Management Software
- Data Center Fabric Manager (DCFM)
- Enterprise Fabric Connectivity Manager (EFCM) (from McDATA)
- Fabric Manager
- Host Connectivity Manager (HCM)
- SAN Health
- SAN Application Modules
- Data Migration Manager (DMM)
- IP Network Management Software
- IronView Network Manager (INM)
Awards and recognition
- 2002
- Brocade Wins Product of the Year from Storage Magazine and Searchstorage.com
- 2003
- Innovative Technology of the Year from ComputerWorld
- Brocade 3800 Finalist in Network Computing "Well Connected" Awards
- Brocade 3900 Chosen as Finalist in Datamation Product of the Year (Storage Category)
- Brocade 12000 Director wins Product of the Year Award at Paris Data Storage Forum
- 2004
- Brocade MultiProtocol Router wins Product of the Year Award at Paris Data Storage Forum
- 2005
- Search Storage Gold Award: Mi10K
- Well-Connected Award: SANavigator
- StorageX Wins Network Magazine Innovation Award
- StorageX Earns "Excellent" Rating from Redmond Most Valuable Product Evaluation
- Brocade Router Wins Best FC Product of the Year
- 2006
- InfoWorld Technology of the Year Award: Mi10K
- Brocade SAN Director Wins Gold for Storage Product of the Year
- InfoStor MVP Award for the Brocade 48000
- Big Bytes SAN Award for Brocade 4900
- 2010
- 2010 Voted Number 1 Best Places to Work in the Bay Area
- 2010 Fortune Magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work For
- 2011
- 2011 Fortune Magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work For
Mergers and acquisitions
- 2003 – Rhapsody Networks
- 2005 – Therion Software Corporation
- 2006 – NuView, Inc. Develops software solutions for enterprise file data management.
- 2007 – Silverback Systems, Inc. Provides network acceleration technologies.
- 2007 – McDATA. Key competitor in the Fibre Channel switch and director market.
- 2008 – Strategic Business Systems. Storage professional services company.
- 2008 – Foundry Networks. Ethernet Switches and Routers Maker.
See also
- Virtual Cluster Switching (VCS)Virtual Cluster Switching (VCS)Virtual Cluster Switching is a new Layer 2 Ethernet technology currently in development at that targets to improve network utilization, maximize application availability, increase scalability, and dramatically simplify the network architecture in virtualized data centers...
- Fabric OSFabric OSIn storage area networking, Fabric OS is the firmware for Brocade Communications Systems's Fibre Channel switches and Fibre Channel directors. It is also known as FOS and Fabos.-First generation:...
- Fibre ChannelFibre ChannelFibre Channel, or FC, is a gigabit-speed network technology primarily used for storage networking. Fibre Channel is standardized in the T11 Technical Committee of the InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards , an American National Standards Institute –accredited standards...
- List of Fibre Channel switches
- Storage Area NetworkStorage area networkA storage area network is a dedicated network that provides access to consolidated, block level data storage. SANs are primarily used to make storage devices, such as disk arrays, tape libraries, and optical jukeboxes, accessible to servers so that the devices appear like locally attached devices...
- Application delivery controllerApplication delivery controllerAn application delivery controller is a network device in the datacenter that helps perform common tasks done by web sites in an effort to remove load from the web servers themselves. Many also provide load balancing. They usually sit between the firewall/router and the web farm. The ADC is in...