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| Lam explaining the advantages of agility at all layers of the data centre stack. |
Brocade has expanded the Brocade SLX family with new switches that feature unparalleled network visibility and added the Brocade Workflow Composer Automation Suites for turnkey automation. The new solutions are part of Brocade's vision to deliver agility at all layers of the data centre stack, while being open to provide customers with choice, and acoording to Brocade are part of the industry’s first data centre networking portfolio to do so.
Building on the Brocade SLX 9850 routing solution that Brocade introduced in September, the new Brocade SLX 9140, SLX 9240 and SLX 9540 data centre switches that deliver flexible leaf, spine and edge connectivity while leveraging the Brocade SLX Insight Architecture. By embedding network visibility on every router and switch, organisations can achieve pervasive visibility throughout the network to quickly identify problems, accelerate mean-time-to-remediation and improve overall service levels. The Brocade SLX 9140 and 9240 extend these capabilities with a programmable ASIC that provides a new Visibility Services capability from the physical wire to virtual networks and workloads.
According to IDC*, two-thirds of CEOs at Global 2000 companies will place digital transformation at the centre of their corporate strategies by the end of 2017. CEOs recognise they must become a digital organisation to accelerate the pace of innovation and drive competitive advantage or risk being displaced by more nimble competitors. Fast innovation can only happen with an agile IT foundation where automation works seamlessly with network visibility while digitally connecting all IT domains and functions together to eliminate silos and deliver end-to-end automation.
“Organisations that are going through digital transformation need networks that are extremely agile, extensively automated and highly visible,” said CK Lam, Director of Data Center Fabric and Virtualization for Asia Pacific, Brocade. “Brocade is delivering the breadth and depth of flexibility and agility that sets us apart from other network providers. We do so vertically across the data centre stack, and horizontally across domains within the data centre—while being open at every layer.”
The new Brocade SLX 9140 leaf switch provides native 48x25 GbE server-facing ports and 6x100 GbE ports in a 1U form factor. It also features flexible 1/10/25/40/100 GbE configuration options. Lam noted that Brocade decided to support 25 GbE as it is a comfortable stepping stone between the existing 10 and 40 GbE speeds.
The new Brocade SLX 9240 spine switch delivers high density 32x100 GbE ports in a 1U fixed form factor.
Both the Brocade SLX 9140 and SLX 9240 switches feature the first programmable ASIC in their class of switch enabling Brocade to rapidly deliver new capabilities via software. This eliminates expensive forklift upgrades for customers when new technologies and protocols are introduced into the environment.
The ASIC builds on the Brocade SLX Insight Architecture, an open kernel-based virtual machine (KVM) environment to run third-party and customer-specific monitoring, troubleshooting and analytics applications, by adding Visibility Services to provide insight into virtual networks and workloads. Actions can be taken within the switch or through applications and tools outside of the switch, such as Splunk or Brocade Workflow Composer.
The Brocade SLX 9540 switch delivers carrier-class features in a cost-effective 1 RU fixed form factor optimized for data centre interconnect, WAN edge and Internet exchange point deployments. It offers 48x10 GbE ports and 6x100 GbE ports.
Designed to run with the Brocade Workflow Composer platform, Brocade automation suites provide out-of-box network lifecycle automation for commonly performed tasks and are packaged to address major use cases. Three new automation suites, including Network Essentials, Data Center Fabrics and Internet Exchange Points for the Brocade Workflow Composer platform, powered by Brocade acquisition StackStorm, provide automated network provisioning, validation, troubleshooting and remediation workflows.
These automation suites are ideal for customers who want to jumpstart their automation journey with prebuilt workflows to accelerate time-to-value, or which have limitations for IT expertise. Introduced earlier this year, Brocade Workflow Composer is a server-based, DevOps-style network automation platform that integrates across IT domains for end-to-end workflow automation. Each automation suite includes documentation and a collection of turnkey, yet customisable workflows, services, sensors, actions, and rules. Customers can use Brocade automation suites as is or as starter kits for building or customizing workflows specific to their data center requirements to reduce time-to-value.
“Enterprises want to build data centre networks that emulate those of the web-scale giants, but they frequently lack the in-house expertise and resources required to implement such networks and to operate them effectively. As such, they turn to trusted vendors as key partners that can provide them with technologies that are easy to consume, deploy, and manage. Brocade’s approach to embedding visibility into their switches, combined with enhanced automation and programmability, can help organizations transform their networks to align with their digital-transformation initiatives,” said Brad Casemore, Research Director, Datacenter Networks, IDC.
Availability
The Brocade SLX 9140 and SLX 9240 are currently planned to be orderable in January 2017. The Brocade SLX 9540 is orderable today. All switches are planned to be generally available in April 2017.
Brocade Workflow Composer is generally available today. The new automation suites will be available for preview in December 2016 with general availability planned for February 2017.
View The Case for Simpler, Agile Networks, an infographic (PDF)
According to IDC*, two-thirds of CEOs at Global 2000 companies will place digital transformation at the centre of their corporate strategies by the end of 2017. CEOs recognise they must become a digital organisation to accelerate the pace of innovation and drive competitive advantage or risk being displaced by more nimble competitors. Fast innovation can only happen with an agile IT foundation where automation works seamlessly with network visibility while digitally connecting all IT domains and functions together to eliminate silos and deliver end-to-end automation.
“Organisations that are going through digital transformation need networks that are extremely agile, extensively automated and highly visible,” said CK Lam, Director of Data Center Fabric and Virtualization for Asia Pacific, Brocade. “Brocade is delivering the breadth and depth of flexibility and agility that sets us apart from other network providers. We do so vertically across the data centre stack, and horizontally across domains within the data centre—while being open at every layer.”
The new Brocade SLX 9140 leaf switch provides native 48x25 GbE server-facing ports and 6x100 GbE ports in a 1U form factor. It also features flexible 1/10/25/40/100 GbE configuration options. Lam noted that Brocade decided to support 25 GbE as it is a comfortable stepping stone between the existing 10 and 40 GbE speeds.
The new Brocade SLX 9240 spine switch delivers high density 32x100 GbE ports in a 1U fixed form factor.
Both the Brocade SLX 9140 and SLX 9240 switches feature the first programmable ASIC in their class of switch enabling Brocade to rapidly deliver new capabilities via software. This eliminates expensive forklift upgrades for customers when new technologies and protocols are introduced into the environment.
The ASIC builds on the Brocade SLX Insight Architecture, an open kernel-based virtual machine (KVM) environment to run third-party and customer-specific monitoring, troubleshooting and analytics applications, by adding Visibility Services to provide insight into virtual networks and workloads. Actions can be taken within the switch or through applications and tools outside of the switch, such as Splunk or Brocade Workflow Composer.
The Brocade SLX 9540 switch delivers carrier-class features in a cost-effective 1 RU fixed form factor optimized for data centre interconnect, WAN edge and Internet exchange point deployments. It offers 48x10 GbE ports and 6x100 GbE ports.
Designed to run with the Brocade Workflow Composer platform, Brocade automation suites provide out-of-box network lifecycle automation for commonly performed tasks and are packaged to address major use cases. Three new automation suites, including Network Essentials, Data Center Fabrics and Internet Exchange Points for the Brocade Workflow Composer platform, powered by Brocade acquisition StackStorm, provide automated network provisioning, validation, troubleshooting and remediation workflows.
These automation suites are ideal for customers who want to jumpstart their automation journey with prebuilt workflows to accelerate time-to-value, or which have limitations for IT expertise. Introduced earlier this year, Brocade Workflow Composer is a server-based, DevOps-style network automation platform that integrates across IT domains for end-to-end workflow automation. Each automation suite includes documentation and a collection of turnkey, yet customisable workflows, services, sensors, actions, and rules. Customers can use Brocade automation suites as is or as starter kits for building or customizing workflows specific to their data center requirements to reduce time-to-value.
“Enterprises want to build data centre networks that emulate those of the web-scale giants, but they frequently lack the in-house expertise and resources required to implement such networks and to operate them effectively. As such, they turn to trusted vendors as key partners that can provide them with technologies that are easy to consume, deploy, and manage. Brocade’s approach to embedding visibility into their switches, combined with enhanced automation and programmability, can help organizations transform their networks to align with their digital-transformation initiatives,” said Brad Casemore, Research Director, Datacenter Networks, IDC.
Availability
The Brocade SLX 9140 and SLX 9240 are currently planned to be orderable in January 2017. The Brocade SLX 9540 is orderable today. All switches are planned to be generally available in April 2017.
Brocade Workflow Composer is generally available today. The new automation suites will be available for preview in December 2016 with general availability planned for February 2017.
View The Case for Simpler, Agile Networks, an infographic (PDF)
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