![set management ip brocade san switch set management ip brocade san switch](https://www.novell.com/documentation/nw65/stor_iscsi_nw/graphics/orion009.gif)
Performance, comprising a dozen measurements and metrics, including latency, through one switch as well as a multiswitch fabric automatic failover, representing the case in which a switch or an inter-switch link (ISL) fails throughput, which we tested with one to seven Windows NT servers, performing disk reads, writes, and then a mix of reads and writes across the SAN fabric and overall stability. We evaluated the SAN switches in five categories: That ‘s why there are only four, rather than seven, scores on the NetResults Scorecard.
![set management ip brocade san switch set management ip brocade san switch](https://53.cdn.ekm.net/ekmps/shops/itinstock/images/brocade-emc-ds-5300b-5320-80-port-active-8gb-fc-switch-em-5320-licenses-sfps-[4]-56863-p.jpg)
Because scores for installation, performance, manageability and features were about the same within each vendor ‘s product line, we could rate the switches by vendor, rather than individually. Performance of the eight- and 16-port versions of each vendor ‘s switch was extremely close, letting us group the performance figures by vendor, rather than reporting on a switch-by-switch basis. We are assured by QLogic that its current switch products are essentially the same as the Ancor switches we tested.)Įach vendor -QLogic, Vixel and Brocade -with the exception of Gadzoox Networks, provided two switches, an eight-port and a 16-port version. (QLogic acquired Ancor earlier this year, and the switches we tested came from Ancor before the acquisition was completed. While not as easy to get up and running as Brocade ‘s SilkWorm SAN switches and exhibiting so-so performance, QLogic ‘s SANbox 8 and SANbox 16 HA showed strength in its SANsurfer management, which we considered the best of the lot. The SilkWorm 24 SAN switches proved to be truly plug-and-play, and exhibited the best overall performance of the products tested. The Network World Blue Ribbon Award goes to Brocade Communications Systems Inc. The latest wares from four leading SAN switch vendors are quite different. SANs represent an offshoot branch of networking that, whether by design or happenstance, has become a unique world unto itself.Įven so, SAN switches -which power SANs just as Ethernet switches and IP routers drive traditional data networks -can still be quantitatively tested and compared. When you enter the world of storage-area networks (SAN), you may want to check all you know about data networking at the door.