Brocade strengthens application delivery switching performance and security for cloud-optimized data centers

Brocade expands customer control with the introduction of the Brocade ServerIron ADX 1000F [2] compact application delivery switches, which includes the benefits of combined copper and fiber connectivity. This extension to the award-winning Brocade ADX 1000 Series is designed to deliver increased customer choice and flexibility for cloud-focused service providers, financial institutions and governmental agencies while also setting the industry benchmark for application delivery switching performance, scalability and investment protection. The result is up to 50 percent power savings and improved data transmission reliability and security while also dramatically consolidating data center rack footprint. 

Modern data center requirements have become increasingly stringent and challenging driven by business and consumer demand, and this is reflected an increased demand for Optical cable – up 13% in Western Europe and 33% in Eastern Europe in the first half of 2011. At the same time the need to significantly reduce power consumption while also delivering greater performance, carrier-grade reliability and secure data transmission has caused network managers to scrutinize their application delivery solutions. Compounded with increasingly complex application requirements, massive client access growth and the requirement for maximum performance, the importance of anticipating the future capacity requirements has become a critical factor. 

While many industries can benefit from the inherent capabilities fiber optics deliver, there are three distinct vertical industries with clear deployment needs: large cloud service providers, global financial institutions and governmental agencies: 

In large cloud provider implementations flexible capacity and massive scalability is necessary for providers to react quickly and seamlessly to changing end-user bandwidth and application requirements.

In enterprise networks, the ability to operate within a smaller real estate footprint and a reduction in overall cost are top concerns.

With security and data integrity primary concerns for government agencies, added layers of security are often necessary to meet strict regulations. 

“To solve these critical challenges for customers worldwide, the Brocade ServerIron ADX 1000F leverages the inherent connectivity benefits of fiber to maximize bandwidth, dramatically reduce power consumption by roughly 40 to 50 percent and meet security requirements by government agencies,” said Zeus Kerravala, senior vice president and distinguished research fellow for Yankee Group. “Fiber also offers space-constrained customers with higher-density hardware and cable capabilities, resulting in the need for fewer racks. By consolidating rack space, data centers can operate within a smaller real estate footprint, which ultimately reduces energy overhead and increases rack efficiency 80 percent versus copper.” 

From a connectivity medium perspective, fiber minimizes the possibility of performance degradation compared to copper. Because fiber is less susceptible to electrical interference, it is ideal in environments where magnetic fields can overpower cable shielding and cause performance degradation or complete connectivity loss. This vulnerability to interference is also a potential security liability. Data transmission signals over standard copper Ethernet can actually be tapped into from the electrical field around the cabling. Fiber is far less vulnerable to this, by design, making it a highly secure solution. 

Fiber also provides extended range compared to copper connections. With copper, there is a distance limitation due to signal degradation as the cabling distance increases. Fiber has the capacity to carry high-speed signals over greater distances without the need for data signal amplifiers. This is an important factor for distributed data communications environments. 

“We are providing more proof points for our Brocade One strategy, which helps our customers reduce network complexity and scale with new and distributed applications. With the launch of the Brocade ADX 1000F, we are able to demonstrate how our innovations provide new levels of performance, scalability and security through added customer choice and control,” said Alberto Soto, vice president – EMEA at Brocade. “Our solutions available today support the IT transformation required to embrace any and all cloud architectures.” 

The Brocade ADX 1000F is an extension to the Brocade ADX Series of high-performance application delivery switches. It provides a broad range of application optimization functions to ensure the reliable delivery of critical applications. Purpose-built for large-scale, low-latency environments, the Brocade ADX Series accelerates application performance and improves application availability–all while making the most efficient use of existing infrastructure. To help ease the transition to IPv6, leading-edge IPv4-to-IPv6 translation technology enables service providers, enterprises and government agencies to systematically adopt IPv6 without the costly process of replacing their existing IPv4 application infrastructure.