Datasheet: Brocade 6520 Fibre Channel switch

1 DatasheetBrocade 6520 Fibre Channel switchPage 1 of 6520 Fibre Channel switchScalable Enterprise-Class SAN switch forHighly Virtualized, Cloud EnvironmentsTo meet dynamic and growing businessdemands, data centers are evolving intohighly virtualized environments and cloud-based architectures. This approach enablesorganizations to consolidate and simplifytheir IT resources, resulting in increasedbusiness agility and lower capital andoperating expenses. However, enterprise datacenters must keep pace with the changesdriven by increasingly virtualized workloadsand storage resources.

2 Selecting the rightnetwork is therefore key to realizing the fullbenefits of these cloud-based treating the network as a strategic part ofa highly virtualized environment,organizations can increase optimization andefficiency even as they rapidly scale , Brocade Fibre Channel switches arethe de facto storage networking standard formission-critical workloads and highlyvirtualized environments. Based on years ofsuccessful deployment in enterprise datacenters around the globe, Brocade FibreChannel SANs provide highly resilient,scalable, and simplified networkinfrastructure for Brocade 6520 switch meets the demandsof growing, dynamic workloads and privatecloud storage environments by deliveringmarket-leading 16 Gbps Fibre Channeltechnology and capabilities.

3 The Brocade6520 is a high-density, purpose-built,foundational building block for large andgrowing Storage Area Network (SAN)infrastructures. It provides industry-leadingscalability, reliability, and performance in aflexible, easy-to-deploy enterprise-classswitch, enabling greater data centerconsolidation, operational efficiency, andbusiness continuity. In addition to increasedthroughput, it helps improve bandwidthutilization, security, and network visibility andmanagement through in-flight datacompression and encryption and advanceddiagnostics.

4 It s an ideal switch forbandwidth-intensive workloads, evolvingvirtualized data centers, and private 6520 Fibre Channel switchPage 2 of featuresBenefits High scalability in an ultra-dense 96-port switch ports on Demand (PoD) capabilities Up to eight in-flight encryption and compression ports ISL trunking and Dynamic Path Selection (DPS) Reducing overall operational expenses with D_Ports Dynamic Fabric Provisioning (DFP), monitoring, and advanceddiagnostics Support highly virtualized, private cloud storage and data centerconsolidation Enables pay-as-you-grow flexibility from 48 to 96 ports withspeeds up to 16 Gbps Delivering data center-to-data center security and bandwidthsavings Optimizes link and bandwidth utilization Helps maximize application uptime and performance Accelerates deployment and troubleshootingFeatures and benefitsDatasheetBrocade 6520 Fibre Channel switchPage 3 of SCALABILITY FOR DEMANDING WORKLOADS ANDDATA CENTER CONSOLIDATIONThe Brocade 6520 features

5 96 Fibre Channel ports in a 2U form factor,delivering industry-leading port density and space utilization for datacenter consolidation. Designed for maximum flexibility, thisenterprise-class switch offers pay-as-you-grow scalability with Portson Demand (PoD). Organizations can quickly, easily, and cost-effectively scale from 48 to 96 ports in 24-port increments, eachsupporting 2, 4, 8 or 16 Gbps. In addition, flexible, high-speed 16 Gbps and 8 Gbps optics allow organizations to deploy bandwidth ondemand to meet growing data center RELIABILITY, AVAILABILITY, AND SERVICEABILITYThe Brocade 6520 leverages proven enterprise-class technology todeliver unmatched reliability to support non-stop operations formission-critical workloads.

6 It features advanced monitoring,diagnostics, and RAS capabilities to maximize availability, optimizeperformance, and simplify administration. These enterprise-classfeatures include: Critical diagnostic and monitoring capabilities to help ensureearly problem detection and recovery Non-intrusive and non-disruptive monitoring on every port toprovide a comprehensive end-to-end view of the entire fabric Forward Error Correction (FEC) to recover from bit errors on links,enhancing transmission reliability and performance Additional buffers to overcome performance degradation andcongestion due to buffer credit loss Monitoring of real-time bandwidth consumption byhosts/applications on Inter- switch Links (ISLs)

7 To easily identifyhot spots and potential network congestionINDUSTRY-LEADING PERFORMANCE FOR GROWING WORKLOADSThe Brocade 6520 delivers exceptional performance for growing anddynamic workloads through a combination of market-leadingthroughput and bandwidth utilization. With the unpredictability ofvirtualized workloads and cloud services, throughput becomes criticalto ensuring that the network does not become the bottleneck. With 96ports, the Brocade 6520 provides an aggregate 1536 Gbps full-duplexthroughput.

8 Up to eight ISLs can be combined together in a 128 Gbpsframe-based trunk. In addition, exchange-based Dynamic PathSelection (DPS) optimizes fabric-wide performance and load balancingby automatically routing data to the most efficient, available path inthe fabric. This augments ISL trunking to provide more effective loadbalancing in certain configurations. Moreover, the enterprise-classcapabilities of this switch yield 40 percent higher performancecompared to 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) alternatives at a similar DEPLOYMENT AND CENTRALIZED MANAGEMENTA utomating and simplifying SAN management enables data centers toquickly adapt to change and overcome disruptions in a private cloudinfrastructure.

9 Brocade 6520 advanced diagnostics, monitoring, andmanagement reduce end-to-end SAN management complexity Brocade 6520 helps reduce operating costs through simplifiedserver provisioning and change management, advanced cable andoptics diagnostics, and comprehensive management. Severaltechnologies support these capabilities, including: Dynamic Fabric Provisioning (DFP):Combines Brocade switch and adapter technology to reduce oreliminate the need to reconfigure zoning and Logical UnitNumber (LUN) masking when adding or replacing servers.

10 Diagnostic ports (D_Ports):Help identify and isolate optics and cable problems, reducingfabric deployment and diagnostic times. Brocade Network Advisor:Provides comprehensive management of data center fabrics,including configuration, monitoring, and management ofBrocade backbones, switches, and BUILDING BLOCK FOR VIRTUALIZED, PRIVATE CLOUD STORAGEThe Brocade 6520 provides a critical building block for today s highlyvirtualized, private cloud storage environments. It simplifies servervirtualization and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) managementwhile meeting the high-throughput demands of Solid State Disks(SSDs).