Migration Solutions
Every data center has its own unique set of challenges, yet all
data centers have the need for both growth and high availability
for both data and files. Industry analysts estimate that data
centers must plan for a technology refresh every three years.
Brocade understands the issues involved and wants to help by
providing solutions with the right mix of products and
services.
Challenges
It is simply no longer possible to bring down a corporate
data center so that the IT group can rearchitect storage components
and configurations or upgrade to new systems and applications.
Migrations in the data center present a daunting set of
challenges:
- Recognizing the need for migration and finding the IT
budget
- Understanding the alternatives and choosing the one that best
meets your needs in the short and long term
- Collecting and aligning the requirements from all corporate
functions and groups
- Finding efficient solutions and deploying them
non-disruptively
Migrating to 8 Gbit/sec
If you are an IT manager, consider the following. Server
virtualization has increased server utilization rates to 80 percent
or greater. Large enterprise data centers are starting to scale to
10, 20, or more virtual machines per host-all booting from the SAN
and accessing SAN resources. Processing power and available memory
in servers is drastically increasing. Two quad-core processors
running at over 3 GHz and up to 64 GB of memory can be put in a 1U
server. By deploying an 8 Gbit/sec network up front, you can add
servers and storage to the network non-disruptively. Beyond speed,
Brocade is building in advanced capabilities for QoS and support
for virtual server mobility through dynamic state migration of link
and port personality profiles.
Migrating to FICON
Most IT organizations understand the technical and
business benefits of FICON technology, such as enhanced
performance, higher scalability, and reduced capital and
operational costs. Brocade can help determine the value of
migrating to FICON, develop a sound strategy for deployment, and
assist in the migration. Brocade FICON infrastructure solutions
include strategy, design, and implementation; ROI analysis;
ESCON-to-FICON migration; and FICON infrastructure upgrades.
Migrating to Fabric OS
Brocade Fabric OS is the operating system firmware that
provides the core infrastructure for deploying robust SANs. As the
foundation for the Brocade family of Fibre Channel SAN switches and
directors, it helps ensure the reliable and high-performance data
transport that is critical for scalable SAN fabrics interconnecting
thousands of servers and storage devices. With
ultra-high-availability features such as non-disruptive hot code
activation, Fabric OS is designed to support mission-critical
enterprise environments. Brocade Fabric OS supports a wide range of
optional Advanced Fabric services. It enables the most secure
environments possible by supporting hardware-enforced Advanced
Zoning and encrypted management via SSH, SSL, and SNMPv3.
