Provides flexible allocation of Fibre Channel, 10GbE, iSCSI and FCoE ports without top-of-rack switches
QLogic recently announced a new partnership with Avaya to provide its “Bullet” 10Gigabit Ethernet converged network switching technology for Avaya’s Virtual Enterprise Network Architecture (VENA).
Qlogic unveils new generation of 10G adapters
The company will introduce an eight-port Converged Network Switching Module for Avaya that provides Fibre Channel, 10G Ethernet, iSCSI or Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) connectivity. The module, which incorporates QLogic’s “Bullet” FCoE switching ASIC, allows any port to be dynamically allocated to any storage or Ethernet networking protocol. This flex port technology provides flexibility and the ability to switch protocol support on-the-fly to accommodate virtual and physical servers in today’s converged enterprise and cloud computing environments. Flex port technology also eases network reconfiguration, provisioning, policy changes and management – meaning users can choose the right mix of Ethernet or Fibre Channel connectivity to support their business-critical applications and change those configurations as business and network needs change.
When configured for Fibre Channel, the module lets servers outfitted with QLogic converged network adapters (CNA) to be attached to Avaya Ethernet switches to access Fibre Channel storage area networks (SAN) without the need to purchase and install top-of-the-rack FCoE switches.
Specifically, Avaya will partner with QLogic for converged networking, with VMware for virtualization and cloud infrastructure, with Coraid for converged Ethernet SAN storage and with Silver Peak Systems for WAN optimization and acceleration. The company’s VENA is built on open industry standards and features a fabric that spans the entire network. The VENA Virtual Services Fabric is built on enhanced IEEE Shortest Path Bridging and supports co-existing services.
Avaya’s Virtual Services Platform incorporates the Avaya VSP 9000 and the Ethernet Routing Switch 8600 and 8800 products. The company is also developing top-of-the-rack switches to support 10G to 40/100G Ethernet and FCoE. The VSP 9000 offers Layer 2 and 3 network virtualization.
QLogic’s new switch module uses the Bullet ASIC to pool and abstract SAN and LAN connections between physical and virtual machines and storage. It allocates bandwidth dynamically across eight connections, replacing switching products that must be manually configured. The Bullet is based on a scalable, non-blocking, standards-based crossbar switch architecture that allows server, network or storage administrators to add, move and change network connections in minutes rather than the hours required of manually configured switches and adapters.
The QLogic-Avaya partnership signals further penetration for QLogic into converged network switching infrastructures. In addition to Avaya, the company now provides FCoE switching technology for HP’s A5820 data center Ethernet switch and for HP’s Virtual Connect Flex Fabric module for HP BladeSystem servers.
