Products

Brocade VA-40FC SAN Switch

As organizations consolidate data centers, expand application services, and begin to implement cloud initiatives, large-scale server architectures are becoming a standard part of the data center. As a result, the network must be able to scale efficiently to handle additional connectivity and data traffic when new servers are deployed. Minimizing the network deployment steps and simplifying management can help organizations grow seamlessly while reducing operating costs.

The Brocade VA-40FC helps meet this challenge, providing the first Fibre Channel edge switch optimized for server connectivity in large core-to-edge SANs. By leveraging Brocade Access Gateway technology, the Brocade VA-40FC enables zero-configuration deployment and reduces management of the network edge—increasing scalability and simplifying management for large-scale server architectures. Ease of use, a flexible hardware design, high performance, and maximum port density make the Brocade VA-40FC an efficient solution for meeting the requirements of next-generation virtual data centers.

The Brocade VA-40FC is designed for rapidly growing virtualized environments, providing 40 Fibre Channel ports in a compact 1U form factor and operating at 8, 4, 2, or 1 Gbps speeds. Moreover, organizations can trunk up to eight ports between the Brocade VA-40FC and the SAN core to enable high-performance end-to-end networks. Because Access Gateway technology is built on industry-standard N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV), the Brocade VA-40FC can be connected to any NPIV-enabled fabric, including Brocade B- and M-Series, Cisco, and QLogic fabrics.

Zero Configuration Deployment and Simplified Management

The default setting for the Brocade VA-40FC is Access Gateway mode, which allows organizations to deploy the switch immediately, without any configuration. Optionally, Automatic Port Configuration (APC) automatically sets F_Ports and N_Ports based on what is connected, and servers ports (F_Ports) are automatically balanced across fabric links (N_Ports). When organizations add or remove server or fabric links, the switch can automatically rebalance the connections.

The Brocade VA-40FC in Access Gateway mode facilitates network scalability by appearing to the core fabric as a single physical device rather than a network switch. As a result, the switch does not consume a fabric domain and does not cause the fabric to grow. This enables organizations to add racks of servers without stressing their scalability limits. All servers, physical or virtual, receive a virtual N_Port, with traffic flowing through a physical N_Port. Logically, the servers are presented directly to the core, enabling the network to appear flat while still taking advantage of core-to-edge scalability.