To help protect existing investments, Brocade switches are fully forward and backward compatible across the entire Brocade portfolio, including the Brocade DCX Backbone. This capability enables organizations to deploy 1, 2, 4, and 8 Gbit/sec fabrics with highly scalable core-to-edge configurations. Brocade switch models offer flexible configurations ranging from 8 to 80 ports, and can function as standalone or edge switches, depending upon customer requirements.

Brocade switch and director offerings help optimize storage networking environments to meet the most demanding SAN requirements. This approach helps ensure high resource utilization, simplified management, and unmatched fabric scalability.

With native E_Port interoperability across Brocade Fabric OS (FOS) and M-Enterprise OS (M-EOS) devices and fabrics, Brocade switches connect to the vast majority of fabrics in operation today, allowing organizations to seamlessly integrate and scale their existing SAN infrastructures. Moreover, Brocade switches are backed by FOS and M-EOS engineering, test, and support expertise to provide reliable operation in mixed SAN fabrics.

4Gb and 8Gb Fibre Channel Switches
Brocade 5300 48, 64, or 80 ports 8 Gbit/sec	High-density building block at edges of core-to-edge SAN/Small and Medium SAN consolidation
Brocade 4900 32, 48, or 64 ports 4 Gbit/sec	High-density building block at edges of Core-to-Edge SAN/Small and Medium SAN consolidation
Brocade 5100 24, 32, or 40 ports 8 Gbit/sec	Enterprise, department, and workgroup SANs featuring native interoperability with M-EOS and FOS platforms
Brocade 5000 16, 24, or 32 ports 4 Gbit/sec	Enterprise, department, and workgroup SANs featuring native interoperability with M-EOS and FOS platforms
Brocade 300 8, 16, or 24 ports 8 Gbit/sec	Starter SAN and Small Application or Workgroups
Brocade 200E 8, 12, or 16 ports 4 Gbit/sec	Starter SAN and Small Application or Workgroup

In addition, Brocade provides embedded Fibre Channel Switches for use in leading vendors' blade server environments. These affordable solutions greatly reduce implementation time and cost without compromising performance.

2, 4, and 8 Gbit/sec Embedded Switches are available from the following vendors.

• Dell
• Fujitsu-Siemens
• Hewlett-Packard
• Hitachi
• IBM
• Intel
• NEC

High Availability Throughout the Fabric
Brocade switches meet high-availability requirements with the Brocade 5300, Brocade 5100, Brocade 4900, and Brocade 5000 switches offering redundant, hot-pluggable components. All Brocade switches feature non-disruptive software upgrades, automatic path rerouting, and extensive diagnostics. Leveraging the Brocade networking model, these switches can provide a fabric capable of delivering overall system availability greater than 99.999 percent.

Affordable Scalability
To meet the need for scalable and affordable SAN solutions, Brocade switches are backward and forward compatible - providing a seamless migration path to 8 Gbit/sec connectivity and future technologies. In addition, support for heterogeneous environments provides much greater flexibility in utilizing existing technology resources. All switches feature flexible port configuration with Ports on Demand capabilities for fast, easy scalability.

Fast, Reliable 2, 4, and 8 Gbit/sec Performance
All Brocade switches offer full, non-blocking performance across all ports as well as 1:1 subscription. Organizations can also experience high performance between switches by using Brocade ISL Trunking to achieve up to 68 Gbit/sec total throughput and innovative Adaptive Networking Services to ensure QoS and optimized data flows.

Simplified Deployment and Management to Reduce TCO
Brocade switches can utilize cost-effective management solutions to optimize storage network resources, improve efficiency, and reduce TCO. They are designed for easy deployment, management, and maintenance, leveraging tools such as the EZSwitchSetup wizard. In addition, they simplify administration through embedded Brocade Web Tools management software and a full range of SAN management software such as Brocade Fabric Manager and Brocade EFCM. These solutions enable centralized management regardless of vendor, protocol, or geography.

Excellent Value for a Variety of Environments
Designed for flexibility, Brocade switches provide a low-cost solution for DAS-to-SAN migration, small SAN islands, NAS back ends, and the edge of core-to-edge enterprise SANs. As a result, these switches are ideal as standalone departmental SANs or as high-performance edge switches in large enterprise SANs.

Routing and Extension
Brocade offers routing and extension switches to help maximize the performance of applications that move data between data centers. For solutions that need routing only, the Brocade 5100 and Brocade 5300 support optional Fibre Channel Integrated Routing capabilities between fabrics. For solutions that need routing and extension, learn more about the Brocade 7500, Brocade 7500E, and other Brocade extension and routing products.