| Q1. |
Is the Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch a Brocade or HP switch? |
| A1. |
The Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch for HP c-Class BladeSystem is a co-developed Fibre Channel (FC) switch designed specifically for the HP BladeSystem c-Class. The switch is sold and supported exclusively by HP and HP partners. |
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| Q2. |
How does this embedded FC switch solution differ from a stand-alone switch? |
| A2. |
This embedded FC switch is a member of the HP StorageWorks B-Series family of products. The differences are mainly in the physical size, server facing port interconnects, and external facing port count. The switch employs the same firmware as HP StorageWorks B-Series Fibre Channel switches. |
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| Q3. |
Why would a customer use this Brocade switch instead of a stand-alone version? |
| A3. |
This embedded solution offers numerous advantages including a lower cost of deployment, a smaller footprint, and a truly integrated design resulting in better rack space utilization, easy installation, lower operational costs, and simplified management. |
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| Q4. |
Does HP support Brocade Access Gateway with the Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch? Is a license required to enable the Brocade Access Gateway feature? |
| A4. |
Yes, HP supports the Brocade Access Gateway feature with Brocade Fabric OS® v5.2.1b and higher. The Brocade Access Gateway is a feature of the Fabric OS that is user-enabled through Brocade Web Tools or the Brocade Command Line Interface (CLI). No additional license is required. |
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| Q5. |
What products support the Brocade Access Gateway feature? What are the minimum fabric requirements for Brocade Access Gateway?
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| A5. |
The Brocade Access Gateway is a feature for Brocade blade server SAN switches. Therefore, the Brocade 4Gb SAN Switches for HP c-Class and p-Class BladeSystem are supported.
The fabric edge switch/director (the switch connected to the Brocade Access Gateway) must support NPIV functionality as described in version 1.4 of the FS-LS specification. |
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| Q6. |
How is fabric management simplified by Brocade Access Gateway? |
| A6. |
The Brocade Access Gateway improves how blade servers connect to SAN fabrics. Eliminating incremental switches/domains and the associated management workload for each blade enclosure greatly simplifies overall management. |
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| Q7. |
If I am running Brocade Access Gateway mode, can I revert to the standard switch mode of operation? |
| A7. |
Yes. You can switch between Brocade Access Gateway mode and the standard switch mode of operation. Consult the Brocade Access Gateway Administrator’s Guide for details. |
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| Q8. |
What are the differences between Brocade Access Gateway mode and standard switch mode? |
| A8. |
When the Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch is in Brocade Access Gateway mode, most switch features are no longer applicable. These features include Admin Domains, Brocade Advanced Performance Monitoring, Brocade Advanced Zoning, direct connection to target devices, Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop support, Brocade Fabric Manager, FICON®, IP over Fibre Channel, Brocade Extended Fabrics, Management Services, Name Services (SNS), port mirroring Brocade Secure Fabric OS®, and SMI-S. These switch features are available in the default switch mode of operation. In addition, the Brocade Access Gateway can connect to switches providing these services. |
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| Q9. |
What are the differences between a Fibre Channel pass-through solution and Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch operating in Brocade Access Gateway mode? |
| A9. |
Both the switch and Brocade Access Gateway modes of operation on the Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch share significant benefits over Fibre Channel pass-through solutions. Pass-through solutions add incremental cost, potential points of failure, and overall complexity. In contrast, the Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch reduces approximately 50% of the components/cost, provide fault tolerance, and help optimize the utilization of the reduced resources. In addition, Brocade Access Gateway mode offers SAN-facing port failover and failback capabilities, improving availability. |
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| Q10. |
Does the Brocade Access Gateway support fault-tolerant fabric connectivity? |
| A10. |
Yes, it supports fault-tolerant external ports for mission-critical high-availability environments. |
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| Q11. |
Is interoperability supported for fabrics based on McDATA or Cisco switches? |
| A11. |
The Brocade Access Gateway behaves as a logical host device thus eliminating switch-to-switch 8interoperability challenges. As long as the fabric edge switch/director is NPIV-enabled, the connection is supported.
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| Q12. |
How many ports does the Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch have? |
| A12. |
There are two port-count options for greater flexibility, as well as the option of an upgrade license for lower cost of entry, where needed. The Brocade 4/12 SAN Switch for HP c-Class BladeSystem offers 12 active ports in any combination of internal and external connections and includes a Full Fabric license. There are two models of the Brocade 4/24 SAN Switch including a Full Fabric model and the option of a value-priced Power Pack model, both of which offer 16 internal facing ports and 8 fabric facing ports. The Brocade 4/12 SAN Switch 12-port upgrade license option enables an additional 8 internal facing ports and 4 fabric facing ports on the 12-port Full Fabric model, for a total of 16 internal facing ports and 8 fabric facing ports. This option allows customers a low entry cost with a ‘pay as you grow’ model. |
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| Q13. |
Does the Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch support all of the same fabric OS configuration and management tools as HP StorageWorks B-Series external switches? |
| A13. |
Yes. Web Tools, Fabric Watch, Extended Fabrics, ISL Trunking, and Advanced Performance Monitoring are all supported, as well as Fabric Manager |
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| Q14. |
Which HP c-Class blade servers are supported by the Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch for HP c-Class BladeSystem? |
| A14. |
All the current HP BladeSystem c-Class server blades are supported. |
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| Q15. |
Is the Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch for HP c-Class BladeSystem hot pluggable? |
| A15. |
Yes, the design for the embedded SAN Switch for the HP BladeSystem c-Class supports the SAN switch as a tightly integrated, hot-pluggable component. |
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