NetApp Becomes First Vendor to Resell New FCoE Blade for Brocade DCX Backbone
SUNNYVALE, CA and SAN JOSE, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 08/11/09 -- NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) and
Brocade® (NASDAQ: BRCD) today announced three new Brocade products as
part of NetApp's next-generation Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) product
offerings. The new Brocade switch, blade, and converged network adapters
(CNAs) continue NetApp's leadership in FCoE and add to NetApp's ability to
provide customers with flexible, simple, and efficient unified storage.
The new Brocade FCoE products allow customers to bridge their Ethernet and
Fibre Channel (FC) networks by offering both 10-Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE)
and 8Gb FC ports within the same platform, as either a top-of-rack switch
or a blade in the Brocade DCX or DCX-4S backbone. At the server level, the
Brocade CNAs help customers consolidate their Ethernet and FC cabling by
supporting both protocols on the same port. In addition to NetApp's
expanded partnership with Brocade, NetApp also unveiled a new
next-generation unified target adapter for its storage systems, switches,
and converged network adapters. These solutions allow customers to simplify
their IT infrastructure at the server edge while leveraging their existing
investments in FC architecture. For more information on NetApp's new FCoE
product offerings announced today, visit:
www.netapp.com/us/company/news/news-rel-20090811-fcoe-dcb-solutions.html
"Brocade and NetApp have long shared a goal of helping our mutual customers
drive out costs through consolidation, and this offering is the latest
example of our collaborative efforts," said Marc Randall, senior vice
president, Products and Offerings division at Brocade. "Today's
announcement extends our commitment to a customer-driven approach to
providing solutions that support emerging technologies that protect and
enhance existing data center investments."
NetApp has been an innovator in the Ethernet space since the company was
founded. Today, NetApp continues to be a leader with 10GbE and
next-generation FCoE offerings, helping customers reduce cost and
complexity while meeting high bandwidth storage system requirements.
Recently, the company was listed as a leader in the InfoPro Wave 12 survey
for 10GbE. NetApp and Brocade have been active participants in the
development of the Fibre Channel over Ethernet standard, which was recently
completed and unanimously approved as a final standard by the FC-BB-5
working group of the T11 Technical Committee.
"ESG believes that FCoE will fuel a new wave of data center consolidation
as it lowers complexity, increases efficiency, improves utilization, and
ultimately reduces power, space, and cooling requirements," said Brian
Garrett, technical director, Enterprise Strategy Group Lab.
