Brocade Communications Systems Brocade Switch 5000 - Manual (Page 2)

The Brocade 5000 is designed to protect
both Brocade and McDATA technology
investments. It is fully compatible with
Brocade 1, 2, and 4 Gbit/sec devices and
provides native E_Port interoperability for
existing McDATA devices. The Brocade
5000 is also backed by FOS and M-EOS
engineering, test, and support expertise to
provide reliable operation in SAN fabrics
using any of the supported configurations.
In addition, the switch features lower
power dissipation as well as consolidated
power and fan assemblies to improve
environmental performance and reduce
ownership costs. These capabilities
help make the Brocade 5000 a cost-
effective solution for a wide range of SAN
environments, including the edge
of enterprise core-to-edge networks.
iNDUstRY-lEADiNg PERFORMANCE
To support mission-critical environments,
the Brocade 5000 provides best-in-class
performance for midrange SAN switches.
It features a non-blocking architecture with
as many as 32 ports concurrently active
at 4 Gbit/sec full duplex to provide an
aggregate bandwidth of 256 Gbit/sec.
The Brocade 5000 utilizes ASIC technology
featuring four 8-port groups. within these
groups, an Inter-Switch Link (ISL) trunk can
supply up to 32 Gbit/sec of data throughput
(see Figure 1). In addition to reducing
congestion and increasing bandwidth,
enhanced Brocade ISL Trunking utilizes
ISLs more efficiently to free up the number
of usable switch ports.
Additional performance capabilities include:
• Eight virtual channels on each ISL
enhance Quality of Service traffic
prioritization and anti-starvation
capabilities at the port level to avoid
performance degradation.
• Exchange-based Dynamic Path Selection
(DPS) optimizes fabric-wide performance
and load balancing by automatically
routing data to the most efficient
available path in the fabric (see Figure 2).
It augments ISL Trunking to provide more
effective load balancing in certain
configurations. In addition, DPS can
balance traffic between the Brocade
5000 and McDATA devices enabled with
Brocade Open Trunking.
ENtERPRisE-ClAss AVAilABilitY
FOR BUsiNEss CONtiNUANCE
The Brocade 5000 provides a reliable
foundation for disaster recovery and
business continuance by employing
enterprise-class availability features
such as hot-swappable, redundant,
and integrated fan and power supply
assemblies. Moreover, hot code load
and activation helps maximize application
uptime with faster system upgrades and
maintenance to reduce the dependency
on scheduled outages. Combined with a
wide range of diagnostic and monitoring
functions, these capabilities help provide
a highly available SAN environment.
To support business continuance
operations, the Brocade 5000 enables
industry-leading distances between servers
and storage devices. Support for distances
up to 500 kilometers at 1 Gbit/sec and
125 kilometers at 4 Gbit/sec facilitates
the deployment of high-performance,
long-distance SAN initiatives such as
data center consolidation.
HigH sCAlABilitY WitH
PORts ON DEMAND
Delivering up to 32 ports in a 1U form
factor, the Brocade 5000 combines cost-
effectiveness with highly scalable Ports on
Demand capabilities. It has a minimum of
16 ports enabled, and organizations can
easily expand to 24 or 32 ports by activating
a license as their requirements change.
As a result, the Brocade 5000 provides a
modular “pay-as-you-grow” approach to
business expansion.
sUPERiOR ROi AND
iNVEstMENt PROtECtiON
The Brocade 5000 combines performance,
availability, interoperability, and scalability
advantages with investment protection.
As a result, it is designed to enable rapid
installation in existing SAN environments—
reducing both deployment cost and complexity.
The Brocade 5000 utilizes the same Fabric
OS that supports the entire Brocade SAN
product family—from the 8-port Brocade
200E Switch to the 768-port Brocade DCX
Backbone. This helps ensure forward and
backward compatibility among Brocade SAN
switches while simplifying maintenance and
field upgrades. Moreover, organizations can
manage the Brocade 5000 with existing
management applications such as Brocade
EFCM 9.x and Brocade Fabric Manager.
Figure 1.
ISL Trunking with 2 and 4 Gbit/sec links.
1 G
4 G
4 G
3 G
0.5 G
2 G
4 Gbit/sec with 8 trunks Optimal bandwidth utilization using
up to four 2 Gbit/sec links
congestion
32 Gbit/sec
8 Gbit/sec
With Trunking With Trunking Without Trunking
4 G
4 G
1 G
3 G
0.5 G
2 G ASIC Preserves
In-order Delivery
ASIC Preserves
In-order Delivery
2 G
1 G
1.5 G
0.5 G
2 G
2 G
1 G
1.5 G
0.5 G
2 G
2 G
1 G
1.5 G
0.5 G
2 G
1 G
1 G
1.5 G
0.5 G
1 G
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