The feature presentation

We invited both participants to specify features not tested under any of the other categories that they felt set them apart from their competitors. Brocade offered several, from which we picked the ones that intrigued us the most:

• ISL Trunking allows Etherchannel-like link aggregation of up to four trunks, all behaving like a single trunk with full load balancing across the aggregated links.
  
• Virtual Channels is a proprietary mechanism for prioritizing traffic across ISLs based on Fibre Channel Class of Service.
  
• Speed Matching, according to Brocade, is a buffering mechanism that allows inter-connectivity of 1 Gbps and 2 Gbps on the same switch fabric.
  
• Brocade is especially keen on its Fabric Access API program, which makes Brocade product-specific hooks available to developers of SAN-related software products.

Buyers should note well that some of Brocade's features, including all of the above except for Speed Matching, are extra-priced options that are activated on the SilkWorm only after a license fee is paid.

In addition to SANavigator, management-minded McData offered two features for consideration:

• FICON In-Band Management Server allows Intrepid switches to be managed in mainframe/ FICON environments as mainframe network entities via System Automation for OS/390.
  
• OSMS (Open Systems Management Server) is an open standards-based application that allows the Intrepid to be managed by third-party management software like Veritas SANPoint Control.

SAN buyer's guide index

Global Test Alliance

Percy is also a member of the Network World Global Test Alliance, a cooperative of the premier reviewers in the network industry, each bringing to bear years of practical experience on every review. For more Test Alliance information, including what it takes to become a member, go to www.nwfusion.com/alliance.