Brocade VCS fabric portfolio enhancements improve IT agility

• New switch delivers highest port density for dynamic, scale-out data centre architectures
• Supports Zero-Touch Provisioning capabilities, enabling it to be configured and operational in less than a minute

DATA centre fabric networking solutions company Brocade has announced advancements to the Brocade VCS fabric portfolio that are designed to significantly improve IT agility and help customers migrate to the New IP.

These solutions enable efficient, automated, scale-out network architectures with new, advanced programmability and orchestration to deliver network resources on demand, the company said in a statement.

New innovations to the VCS fabric portfolio include the Brocade VDX 6940 (pic), the industry's highest-density fixed form factor switch, which is designed for dynamic, scale-out data centre architectures.

To facilitate rapid deployment, the switch supports Zero-Touch Provisioning capabilities, enabling it to be configured and operational in less than one minute, said the company. Unlike traditional networks where each switch is managed individually, the Brocade VDX 6940 allows customers to scale out the network without adding operational complexity.

Utilising Brocade VCS Logical Chassis capabilities, customers can manage up to 48 switches as a single logical switch.

The automated approach to Brocade VDX switch deployment and operations extends beyond native VCS capabilities. Customers can seamlessly integrate a Brocade VDX network infrastructure with the rest of their data centre ecosystem through advanced programmability, Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and virtualisation support, cloud orchestration and DevOps integration.

As a result, customers can operate their data centres more holistically, accelerate innovation and ensure that network resources are readily available and automatically provisioned as new services are deployed.

“SDN is enabling network infrastructure to deliver capabilities such as automated provisioning, programmatic management, service chaining, and integration with cloud orchestration, which is helping the network overcome long-standing limitations that made it an inhibitor to business agility, IT efficiency, and overall productivity,” said Brad Casemore, research director, Data Center Networks, at IDC.

“By adding these SDN and orchestration capabilities to its Ethernet fabric portfolio, Brocade is helping its customers better align network architecture and operations with applications and developers.”

Software enhancements and the Brocade VDX 6940 switches will be available in March, at a starting price of US$27,995.

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