New Brocade Switch Speaks To McData

February 19th, 2007: Brocade has delivered the first piece of the SAN interoperability puzzle with McData, releasing a new fibre channel switch that can be used in SANs from both companies.

The company says the new 5000 Switch is the first in the industry to provide native interoperability to either Brocade or McDATA SANs, without loss of performance or functionality. Suitable for departmental SANs or core-edge enterprise SANs, Brocade says the 4 Gbit/sec switch features Ports on Demand capability, scaling from 16 to 24 or 32 ports and claims that it consumes 76 percent less power than similar solutions.

The introduction of this new switch shows that Brocade is indeed coming good on its promise to preserve the usability of McData equipment deployed before Brocade bought the company last year. A SAN is a considerable investment, so Brocade wants to ensure that McData customers have complete interoperability as it folds McData’s technology into its own.

"One of the most important elements of Brocade's commitment to its new McDATA customers was to deliver solutions that protect and extend their existing investments," says Steve Duplessie, Founder of the Enterprise Strategy Group.

"This announcement, within weeks of the closing, demonstrates a strong understanding of the customer's desires and gives the McDATA installed base a great proof point that Brocade was serious in its intent. McDATA customers have got to be happy with this."

Brocade has also updated its SAN Health Professional diagnostic software to include change management capabilities as well as support for McData technology.

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