HP StorageWorks 2/24 FW 07.00.00/HAFM SW 08.06.00 McDATA Products in a SAN Env - Page 41

Introduction to McDATA Multi-Protocol Products 1 Fabric Switches In similar fashion to directors, fabric switches also provide highperformance, dynamic connections between end devices in a Fibre Channel switched network. Fabric switches also support mainframe and OSI computing environments. Through non-blocking architecture and limited FRU redundancy, fabric switches also offer high availability and high-performance bandwidth. Although switches do not offer the redundancy, availability, or port count of an enterprise-class director, they offer a much lower-cost connectivity option. Fabric switches should be installed for: • Implementation as the principal building block of a small-scale SAN or as a consolidation point for enterprise-class SANs. • Departmental and workgroup connectivity. • Applications where distributed storage predominates. Fabric switches also provide connectivity between servers and devices manufactured by multiple OEMs. To determine if an OEM product can communicate through switch connections or if communication restrictions apply, refer to the product publications or contact McDATA. Fabric Switch Performance Fabric switches provide an availability of 99.9% through a redundant configuration of power supplies and cooling fans. When an active FRU (power supply or fan) fails, the backup takes over operation automatically to maintain switch and Fibre Channel link operation. Availability is also provided through concurrent firmware upgrades and spare or unused Fibre Channel ports. Excluding an availability of 99.999%, fabric switches offer the same general performance features as directors, including high bandwidth, low latency, local control, low communication overhead, multiple topology support, and multiple service class support. Introduction to McDATA Multi-Protocol Products 1-15