Brocade VA-40FC SAN Switch

As the datacentre consolidates and evolves to expand application services, leverage virtualisation and pave the way for Cloud computing it’s critical that the network itself can scale efficiently to accommodate these changes.

Brocade’s VA-40FC SAN Switch has been designed to help meet this challenge by enabling zero-configuration deployment and reducing management of the network edge.

Brocade's technology extends to enable movement of applications, using rapid server deployment to delivering scalable, robust networks. Combining the VA-40FC with Brocade's host (HBA) and core (DCX) technology, Brocade's unique offering delivers true quality and service isolating data paths from the VM to storage.

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Zero Configuration Deployment and Simplified Management

Brocade VA-40FC's default setting is Access Gateway mode, allowing organisations to deploy the switch immediately, without configuration. Alternatively Automatic Port Configuration (APC) automatically sets F Ports and N Ports based on what's connected, and server ports (F Ports) are automatically balanced across fabric links (N Ports). When organisations add or remove server or fabric links, the switch can automatically rebalance the connections.

Access Gateway mode facilitates greater network scalability by enabling VA-40FC to appear to the core fabric as a single physical device rather than a network switch. So the switch does not consume a fabric domain or cause the fabric to grow, enabling organisations to add racks of servers without stressing their scalability limits.

Designed for High Density Environments

Brocade VA-40FC supports high-density server environments by providing the industry’s most compact enterprise-class Fibre Channel switch, with a depth of only 17.6 inches. In addition, high-density server racks are designed to leverage advanced cooling technologies and have specific airflow requirements. As the only Fibre Channel edge switch with a reversible airflow option, the Brocade VA-40FC supports this design by providing either port-side or power-side exhaust to meet specific operational demands.

Multiple and Third Party Fabrics

Access Gateway mode also enables connectivity into multiple SAN fabrics, providing a unique level of network edge flexibility. The port grouping capabilities of Access Gateway means some servers can be mapped to one fabric, with other servers mapped to another, enabling organisations to scale their servers without being constrained by which fabric the available storage is attached to.

In addition to the Brocade DCX® Backbone and other Brocade SAN solutions, Brocade VA-40FC connects any SAN fabric supporting the NPIV standard. This includes Brocade B- and M-Series fabrics, as well as Cisco and QLogic fabrics. This ability to connect servers directly to SAN fabrics using different vendor solutions means organisations can easily deploy new technologies and perform network migrations.

Industry Leading Performance and Efficiency

Brocade VA-40FC’s cut-through, non-blocking architecture and full 1:1 8 Gbps performance provides an overall bandwidth of 320 Gbps, making it the industry’s highest-performing 1U Fibre Channel switch. To provide maximum performance throughout the network, the Brocade VA-40FC utilizes hardware-based trunking across N Ports, supplying up to 64 Gbps of aggregate link bandwidth to the fabric core. These performance capabilities enable the switch to provide optimal server connectivity for the virtualised environments of today and tomorrow.

At less than 2.3 watts per port and 0.28 watts/Gbps, the Brocade VA-40FC is the most energy-efficient Fibre Channel solution in the industry. Energy efficiency is critical in high-density server racks because, in many cases, only a finite amount of power can be supplied to a single rack.

End-to-end Network Optimisation

The Brocade VA-40FC provides Adaptive Networking, a suite of tools including Ingress Rate Limiting and Quality of Service (QoS). These advanced capabilities help optimize network behaviour and ensure ample bandwidth for mission-critical applications.

Ingress Rate Limiting restricts data flow from less-critical hosts at preset bandwidths, and QoS expedites critical traffic in the event of congestion while keeping all traffic flowing. Top Talkers, a component of Advanced Performance Monitoring, analyzes traffic flowing through a Brocade VA-40FC by measuring the top bandwidth-consuming traffic (including by individual virtual machine) in real time.

Enterprise Class Availability for an 'Always On' Network

Brocade VA-40FC is a reliable building block for large-scale environments. Each switch comes standard with dual, redundant, hot-swappable power supplies with integrated cooling fans. Two power supply models are available to provide the desired airflow direction (back-to-front or front-to-back). Moreover, hot code load and activation help maximise application uptime with faster system upgrades and maintenance to reduce the dependency on scheduled outages. Combined with the included Brocade Data Center Fabric Manager (DCFM™) Professional fabric-wide SAN management application, these capabilities help establish a highly available SAN environment.

Brocade Access Gateway or Fabric Switch Mode

The fact that Brocade VA-40FC is in Access Gateway mode by default is ideal for larger SAN fabrics, as they benefit from the scalability of fixed-port switches at the edge of the network. Use cases for Access Gateway mode include:

Connectivity of many servers into large SAN fabrics
Connectivity of servers into Brocade, Cisco, or any NPIV-enabled SAN fabrics
Connectivity into multiple SAN fabrics

Brocade VA-40FC also supports Fabric Switch mode, providing standard Fibre Channel switching and routing capabilities that are available on all Brocade enterprise-class 8 Gbps solutions. Use cases for Fabric Switch mode include: