SCIENCE

Emulex Corporation has announced its support for the ANSI T11 16Gb/s Fibre Channel standard, as finalized in the Fibre Channel Industry Association (FCIA) announcement today. The 16Gb/s Fibre Channel standard is critical to supporting evolving server workloads and I/O aggregation, due to increased server virtualization, high bandwidth applications, such as databases, data protection and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), and new server and storage architectures, including PCI Express 3.0 and solid state disks (SSDs).

As the datacenter moves to next-generation datacenter models, such as public and private cloud computing, there will be increased demand for multiple classes of I/O that will drive network and fabric tiering to provide the right quality-of-service for each application and 16Gb/s Fibre Channel will deliver the performance needed for the highest tiers of enterprise computing.

"The ratification of the 16Gb/s Fibre Channel standard is the next step in the progression of trusted and proven Fibre Channel technology in the datacenter. Emulex is working closely with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and our ecosystem partners to bring this technology to market," said Steve Daheb, chief marketing officer and senior vice president of business development, Emulex. "According to industry analysts, storage continues to grow at approximately 40 percent year-over-year. We believe 16Gb/s Fibre Channel will play a key role in the datacenter to enable this growth and protect current storage infrastructure investments. Emulex will continue to provide unique integration, management and a common driver stack for whatever combination of Fibre Channel and converged Ethernet solutions best meet customers' needs."

Emulex has been a leader in the Fibre Channel adapter market since its inception and was the first to announce a 16Gb/s FC design win last October with IBM. Emulex is committed to supporting Fibre Channel and providing its customers with investment protection, including compatibility with previous generations of Emulex LightPulse Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapters (HBAs) and management simplicity with a common Fibre Channel stack for all of its Fibre Channel and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) products.

"16Gb/s Fibre Channel provides a natural evolution and investment protection for existing 8Gb/s and 4Gb/s Fibre Channel Storage Area Networks (SANs)," said Chris Lyon, executive director, FCIA. "The FCIA and its member companies, including Emulex, are committed to the progression of Fibre Channel and with the ratification of the 16Gb/s Fibre Channel standard, users will benefit from higher performance, reduced number of links, easier cable management and better power efficiency."