Storage vendor Qlogic rolled out a new Fibre Channel switch this week at Storage Networking World in Phoenix that gives users an alternative between fixed-port and bladed director-level switches.
The SANbox2-64 is a 64-port switch that is contained in a 4U high enclosure. It runs at 1G or 2G bit/sec and is enabled for Fibre Channel over IP and iSCSI. The SANbox2-64 is enabled for faster Fibre Channel, 4G and 10G bit/sec, as it becomes available. Users can add ports in 8-port increments; a base level switch has 16 ports.
The SANbox2-64 is designed to sit at the edge of the network as a replacement to a mesh of smaller Fibre Channel switches. It has redundant fans, power supplies and cold load activation, which allows software updating without taking the switch down. Modules can be hot-swapped
Qlogic’s switch is also interoperable with switches from Brocade, Cisco, McDATA and InRange.
Qlogic’s SANbox 2-64 starts at $26,000; it is available now.
