Brocade refreshes datacentre kit

Lines up new switches and HBAs

Storage vendor Brocade has launched new datacentre fabric switches and host bus adapters (HBA) aiming to improve data transfer speeds in firms' network infrastructure.

Brocade unveiled three new switches: the entry-level Brocade 300 Switch, the 5100 Switch and the 5300 Enterprise Switch.

The Brocade 300 is a 1U switch with 8-24 ports, while the 1U 5100 and 2U 5300 switches have 24-40 and 48-80 8Gbit/s ports. Brocade claimed all are compatible with its earlier 1, 2 and 4Gbit/s SAN devices, as well as the McData technology and products, it acquired in early 2007.

Both the 5100 and 5300 supports Fibre Connectivity (Ficon) connectivity and Fibre Channel (FC) integrated routing, which provides switch connectivity to different fabrics, so that a separate fabric could be installed for redundancy.

Brocade claimed its new HBAs unveiled today can deliver 500,000 input/output operations (IOPs), potentially making it attractive to large enterprises running virtualised infrastructures.

The new switches are available now from Brocade, IBM and Sun and are expected to be generally available from Brocade’s OEM partners in Brocade’s fiscal Q3, while the new HBAs should be available in June.