Brocade announce global launch of new high performance G610 storage switch

Exponential increases in the volume of stored data, combined with the need for rapid information access is driving a revolution in the enterprise storage market. Flash storage has gained prevalence for its ability to support denser workloads and as the concept of the all-flash data centre gains momentum, Brocade aims to grant enterprises the performance, reliability and affordability needed to realise these ambitions with the launch of its new Brocade® G610 storage switch. While it is positioned as an entry-level switch, the G610 is capable of offering performance of up to 32 Gbps.

“For all its benefits, flash storage is now one of the foundations for enterprise digital transformation initiatives. With the new G610 switch, we have lowered the entry point to our reputed Brocade Gen 6 Fibre Channel technology without any technical compromises, enabling customers to optimise their storage performance. Combined with the expanded functionality provided by VM Insight they will now have unmatched monitoring capabilities for faster troubleshooting,” said Yarob Sakhnini, Regional Director, MEMA at Brocade.

The Brocade G610 is an entry-level switch built on the company’s Gen 6 Fibre Channel storage networking technology. It is expandable from eight ports up to 24 ports per switch, which means it is suitable for small shared storage fabrics up to network edge deployments in data centres. According to Sakhnini, the switch is ‘easy to install and offers proven reliability at an attractive price point’.

The company also announced VM Insight, which delivers proactive visibility into the health and performance of individual virtual machines (VMs) to help administrators uncover issues before applications are affected. The entire Brocade Gen 6 product family with Fabric Vision technology now includes this new technology which will help organisations achieve greater visibility into VM-level application performance. Using integrated sensors, this new capability allows administrators to monitor VM statistics and quickly identify abnormal VM behaviours. This facilitates troubleshooting and fault isolation while providing intelligence for early detection of application performance degradations to help support critical service level agreements. VM Insight extends and complements the automated monitoring, diagnostic and management capabilities enabled by Fabric Vision technology.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is shipping the Brocade G610 switch today. “The ability to protect, analyse and transport data reliably and affordably is an enormous competitive advantage,” said Marty Lans, senior director and general manager of Storage Connectivity, Hewlett Packard Enterprise. “The combination of HPE 3PAR and Brocade Gen 6 Fibre Channel solutions has the potential to transform businesses of all shapes and sizes, enabling them to derive maximum benefit from investments in technologies like flash, NVMe, cloud and virtualisation. The introduction of the new SN3600B Fibre Channel switch bolsters our current Gen 6 Fibre Channel portfolio with a new offering to put Fibre Channel SAN within reach of even more customers.”

The Brocade G610 switch with Gen 6 Fibre Channel technology is available now through Brocade and its channel partners. Other Brocade OEM partners plan to start shipping the new switch in the second quarter of 2017. VM Insight is available today.

Supporting Quotes

“The Brocade G610 switch brings Fibre Channel networking, which is purpose-built for storage, to an affordable price point without compromise for the all-flash data centre. Combining the Brocade G610 switch with Emulex’s Gen 6 Fibre Channel HBAs will offer customers the industry’s most affordable and highest-performing storage network solution.” – Jeff Hoogenboom, General Manager, Emulex Connectivity Division, Broadcom Limited

“Dell EMC is committed to delivering all-flash storage solutions that are foundational to our customers’ IT transformation. Our continued collaboration with Brocade to provide Connectrix Fibre Channel SAN solutions enables organisations to combine the speed and efficiency of all-flash storage with the trusted reliability and availability demanded by today’s data centre. The availability of VM Insight also brings a new level of visibility into the storage performance of individual virtual machines, offering customers another means to monitor and ensure availability of their applications.” – Greg Findlen, vice president, Integrated Offerings, Storage Division, Dell EMC

“Fujitsu storage solutions offer the advantages of ultra-fast, all-flash arrays that set performance records. The new Brocade Gen 6 Fibre Channel switch will allow customers to further optimise the storage performance of their physical and virtual infrastructure.” – Kazuhiko Endo, senior vice president, Head of Data Centre Platform Business Unit, Fujitsu Limited

“H3C is at the forefront of modernising data centres so they can manage modern workloads while ensuring high availability. Brocade Gen 6 Fibre Channel storage networks complement our enterprise storage solutions because they are highly efficient and reliable, and give organisations tools like VM Insight to proactively monitor application performance in each virtual machine.” – Dr Li Li, vice president, general manager of product sales and marketing, H3C

“To support their digital transformation initiatives, organisations are deploying flash to build the right application foundation and accelerate innovation. Our innovative storage solutions combined with the new Brocade Gen 6 Fibre Channel switch brings data centre efficiency, scale and visibility through SAN management tools such as VM insight, enabling our customers to achieve automated and agile IT.” – Bob Madaio, vice president, Infrastructure and Solutions Marketing, Hitachi Data Systems

“Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Brocade are working together to simplify the task of automating and orchestrating SAN provisioning while improving visibility to the overall Fibre Channel SAN conditions with unique tools like HPE’s SmartSAN and Brocade’s Fabric Vision technology. Today’s data centres are experiencing virtualised application growth at unprecedented rates, making it essential for IT managers to maintain optimal SAN performance all the way to the VM level. To this end, HPE plans to provide VM-level visibility with support for Brocade’s VM Insight in a future SmartSAN release.” – Rupin Mohan, R&D chief technologist, HPE StoreFabric, Hewlett Packard Enterprise

“With superb stability, outstanding performance and future-oriented convergence, Huawei’s storage arrays help customers support their most demanding application needs. Brocade’s latest innovation in Gen 6 Fibre Channel can be leveraged by organisations that are deploying flash in their data centres today. With the availability of VM Insight, even the performance of individual virtual machines is monitored and optimised.” – Guangbin Meng, president of storage product line, Huawei

“Lenovo and Brocade are partnering to bring to market reliable, high-performing and scalable Fibre Channel SAN solutions. The availability of Gen 6 Fibre Channel solutions in combination with differentiated management tools like VM Insight are a perfect fit for our diverse customer base who are investing in flash storage, converged systems, bandwidth-hungry applications and ever-increasing VM densities.” – Kamran Amini, general manager, Server Business Unit, Lenovo Data Centre Group

“In a market where every industry and interaction is being digitised, data has quickly become the lifeblood of business. It is critical that these digital enterprises have fast, continuous access to their information to enable new business opportunities and improve competitiveness. The combination of NetApp’s industry-leading flash solutions with the new Brocade G610 switch gives customers an affordable, enterprise-class solution that delivers a consistent application experience to any user, from any device, anytime.” – Octavian Tanase, senior vice president, ONTAP, NetApp

“Nimble Storage helps organisations build an all-flash data centre that optimises performance, capacity and cost for every application. We are excited that the new Brocade G610 Fibre Channel switch offers valuable Gen 6 Fabric Vision features such as VM Insight, which deliver a set of visibility tools that complement Nimble’s InfoSight and VMVision.” – Gary O’Neil, vice president of alliances, Nimble Storage

“Pure Storage all-flash arrays have the speed, simplicity and scale to power mission-critical workloads for organisations of all sizes. Brocade Gen 6 Fibre Channel solutions deliver the proven reliability our customers depend on, and the new VM insight brings performance optimisation and enhanced visibility of individual virtual machines providing customers with more knowledge about their data centre environment.” – Matt Kixmoeller, vice president of products, Pure Storage

“End-to-end visibility into the application performance of individual virtual machines has never been more important in today’s increasingly complex IT operations. VMware’s support for Brocade Fabric Vision technology with VM Insight helps organisations obtain the visibility they need to properly manage infrastructure sizing, conduct capacity planning and monitor performance operations. VMware is excited to support a solution that helps manage the growing demands of data centres.” – Lee Caswell, vice president, Storage & Availability, VMware