INDUSTRY

Brocade Communications Systems today announced that IBM is adding the new 4 Gbit/sec Brocade SilkWorm director and entry-level switch models to its IBM TotalStorage product portfolio. Now IBM TotalStorage customers will be among the first to access a full range of next-generation, high-performance Storage Area Network (SAN) solutions. IBM has added the IBM TotalStorage SAN256B based on the Brocade SilkWorm 48000 Director and the IBM TotalStorage SAN16B-2 fabric switch based on the Brocade SilkWorm 200E Switch to its TotalStorage product portfolio, which also includes the top-selling Brocade SilkWorm 4100 midrange switch (the IBM TotalStorage SAN32B-2 brought to the marketplace in November 2004) as part of the IBM TotalStorage infrastructure simplification solutions. "4 Gbit/sec technology will have a significant impact in helping reduce infrastructure costs and simplifying management for organizations with storage networks," said Bob Mahoney, SAN Business Line Executive at IBM. "The ability to connect SANs while maintaining the integrity of the separate networks is key to storage networking and will play a crucial role in delivering the on-demand computing model to customers. This is one more example of how our ongoing relationship with Brocade continues to address the changing demands of the enterprise data center." "We're very happy to work with IBM to meet the growing demand for next-generation SAN infrastructure," said Tom Buiocchi, Vice President of Marketing at Brocade.