Fibre Channel switches should be easy to set up and come with tools that assist in configuration. This is especially important for first-time users buying entry-level switches. Basic licensing should be included, and ports should be able to auto-configure. In addition to ease of deployment and simplicity of management, Fibre Channel switches must have predictable bandwidth behavior. High port density with no over-subscription or bandwidth contention allows switches to scale predictably as storage requirements grow, without compromise in port speed. Rather than being forced to buy a fully configured switch up front, users should also be able to buy switch ports "on demand" as they acquire more storage and servers in their environment.
Many storage and server requirements will force users to grow beyond the capacity of a single switch. As additional switches, directors and bladed servers are introduced into a SAN, users will minimize training and operating costs if they all run the same operating system and share the same interface as the user's original switch.
How does Brocade compare?
The Brocade 4900 delivers the highest fully-subscribed port density of any Fibre Channel switch. Each port can always communicate with every other port at full 4 Gbit/sec speed. In other words, the Brocade 4900 has 64 ports with no over-subscription in only two rack units.
The Brocade 200E provides affordable connectivity starting at 8 ports expandable to 16 ports. Running Brocade's fifth generation ASIC, it draws 45 watts AC. Brocade 200E customers can use Microsoft Simple SAN to set up storage, HBAs, and the switch in one utility for EMC and HP storage.* Brocade switches running Fabric OS 5.2 can receive IP addresses via DHCP, greatly simplifying setup for advanced users.
The Brocade 5000 provides 32 ports of full-speed 4 Gbit/sec along with full McData native interop mode.
All storage OEMs include Virtual Fabrics, Web Tools, zoning, security, and DPS exchange-based load balancing in the base price of the Brocade 200E. Frame-based trunking and other features designed for larger fabrics are separately licensed.
Customers who expect rapid growth of the devices attached to their switch can utilize Ports on Demand. With the Brocade 4900, users can start with only 32 of the 64 ports enabled. As new storage and servers come online, additional ports can be enabled in 16-port increments. Ports on Demand is also available on the 32-port Brocade 4100, the 16-port Brocade 200E and most Brocade switches embedded in bladed server chassis.
Brocade designs and manufactures all of its Fibre Channel switches, directors and bladed server switches. All of these products run the same firmware, resulting in the same command line interface and GUI. Customers will only need to train once on Brocade Fabric OS in order to run any of these products.
Cisco does not have a 64 port 4 Gbit/sec switch. While the 2 Gbit/sec Cisco MDS 9140 has 40 ports, this switch is 4:1 over-subscribed with effectively only 16 full-speed 2 Gbit/sec ports. The Cisco MDS 9120 shares a similar architecture with only 8 full-speed 2 Gbit/sec ports.* The Cisco 9216i can accept the new 48-port linecard for a total of 62 physical Fibre Channel ports. However, only 12 of the 48 linecard ports can operate at full-speed 4 Gbit/sec and testing shows that only 20 Gbit/sec of bandwidth is available in the slot. The 14 built-in FC ports only run at 2 Gbit/sec.
Cisco's first fully-subscribed switch was the MDS 9020 with twenty 4 Gbit/sec ports. However, the Cisco MDS 9020 is manufactured by QLogic.* While all other Cisco MDS products run SAN-OS, the MDS 9020 runs a different version of firmware called "FabricWare". It has a different command line interface and does not support VSANs. Cisco does not yet make any Fibre Channel switches for bladed servers.
The MDS 9124 is Cisco's first 4 Gbit/sec switch to run SAN-OS. It was announced in November 2006, two years after users were first able to buy 4 Gbit/sec switches from Brocade in November 2004.
Cisco advertises the MDS 9124 as having 'dramatically simple administration' and 'no hidden charges' compared to other vendors. However, users must first configure the MDS 9124 with a terminal session over a serial cable and then install Cisco Fabric Manager on a PC before running the setup utility. The MDS 9124 does not have any Microsoft Simple SAN bundles* and it cannot receive an IP address automatically by DHCP. While Cisco includes VSANs with the MDS9124, Inter-VSAN routing requires an enterprise license costing thousands of dollars per switch.* Exchange-based PortChannels are included, but they must be manually configured. Cisco does not support frame-based trunking on either switches or directors.
The MDS 9124 is Cisco's first 'System on a Chip' (SoC)-based system. This first-generation design is rated at 100 watts. The MDS 9134 provides 32 port switch with 10 Gbit/sec copper interconnects, which are badly oversubcribed when attaching two 9134s together (especially when compared to the 64 full speed ports of the Brocade 4900.
QLogic claims that their 16-port SANbox 5600 can scale to 64 and even 96 4 Gbit/sec ports. However, to get to this port count, QLogic recommends interconnecting four or six individual switches using external 10 Gbit/sec ISLs. Such configurations are 6.4:1 over-subscribed,* and still contain multiple domains and points of administration.