Trying to convince everyone it has the backbone to take on Cisco
Systems Inc. in the data center, Brocade Communications Systems
Inc. is starting to take the wraps off its new Backbone device that
will run emerging
Fibre Channel and Ethernet protocols.
The Data Center Backbone (DCX) is the centerpiece of the data
center strategy Brocade will outline at its Brocade Conference 2007
this week in Las Vegas. But Brocade has divulged few specifics of
its Backbone device yet, except to say what it isn't.
"We don't consider it a director," Brocade chief technology
officer Dan Crain said. "It's a new approach to data center
networking."
The DCX is the same size as Brocade's flagship SilkWorm 48000
director with different mechanics and support for Fibre Channel,
Ethernet, advanced routing, high-speed FCIP and the emerging FCoE
standard. The Backbone device is also the hub that Brocade will use
to consolidate servers and storage by providing connectivity,
optimized server virtualization, application services and automated
policies. The DCX is expected to be available around mid-2008.
The DCX is a key part of the new data center fabric architecture
Brocade will use to counter the Data Center 3.0 architecture
announced by rival Cisco Systems earlier this year. Data Center 3.0
is the umbrella for Cisco's set of connectivity, server and storage
virtualization, automation and encryption tools.
Both vendors' data center initiatives are evolving as data
centers become more complex. "Eventually, as virtualization
techniques proliferate, the compute and storage layers become
utility layers that need to be connected -- no big surprise there,"
said Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) analyst Bob Laliberte.
"Although the term fabric has long been associated with Fibre
Channel, the definition is evolving to include any protocol that
can be used to connect resources in the data center."
Besides traditional storage area network (SAN) connectivity,
Brocade's strategy is to support applications as they move across
virtual servers and infrastructure, and provide end-to-end
management from servers to storage. Brocade has picked up some of
the parts from acquisitions of small companies such as NuView
Systems Inc., Silverback Systems Inc. and Therion Software Corp.,
which were considered a departure from its core SAN business. It
will address other technologies, such as encryption, through more
acquisitions or partnerships.
This evolution is both a challenge and opportunity for
connectivity vendors such as Brocade and Cisco. "As our next
generation chassis emerges, a lot of software will be far more
sophisticated that before," Crain said. "All these workloads are
showing up that we didn't have to run before."
But he maintains the changes, especially the proliferation of
server virtualization, are a boon to networked storage. "I look at
it as the largest institutional DAS-to-SAN movement of all time,"
Crain said.
For now, customers and potential customers will have to take
Brocade's word for how its new architecture will perform. Many of
the products it promises in its new architecture haven't been
announced yet, let alone shown to be data center-proven. Last week
Brocade announced 8-Gbit blades for the
SilkWorm 48000, as well as interoperability between the SilkWorm
48000 and directors picked up in the McData Corp. acquisition
earlier this year. Brocade also promises refreshed file area
networking (FAN) products with more automated policy-based
management.
Still, Laliberte said, it is important to have the
infrastructure in place to plug future products into as they become
available. "I don't really see this as a drastic change for
Brocade," Laliberte said. "The have always been focused on the
connectivity layer or data center fabric, and now they are
expanding that focus to provide additional intelligence, automation
and connectivity. As new protocols and transfer rates continue to
emerge and take shape, it will be important to be able to
gracefully incorporate them into existing infrastructure."