Chapter 1. Introduction; Overview Of The San384B-2 - IBM System Storage SAN384B-2 Installation, Service And User Manual

Chapter 1. Introduction

This chapter introduces the features and components of the IBM System Storage
SAN384B-2 fabric backbone. Throughout this document, the product is referred to
as the SAN384B-2, or more generically as system, device, or chassis, where
appropriate. This chapter contains the information:
v "Overview of the SAN384B-2"
v "Hardware components" on page 2
v "High availability" on page 7
v "Reliability" on page 8
v "Serviceability" on page 8
v "Software features" on page 9

Overview of the SAN384B-2

The SAN384B-2 is part of IBM's industry-leading backbone-class product line, a
highly robust class of network switching platform that combines breakthrough
performance, scalability, and energy efficiency with long-term investment.
Supporting open systems and System z
the data growth and application demands of evolving enterprise data centers,
achieve server, SAN, and data center consolidation, and reduce infrastructure and
administrative costs. The IBM backbone-class product line provides the most
reliable, scalable, high performance foundation for private cloud storage and
highly virtualized environments. They are designed to increase business agility by
adapting to dynamic growth and change, providing non-stop access to
information, and reducing infrastructure and administrative costs.
Key features of the SAN384B-2 include:
v Up to 192 16-Gbps external ports in a single chassis, enabling high density SAN
v Support for 2, 4, 8, and 16 Gbps auto-sensing Fibre Channel ports. Trunking
v The chassis also supports 10 Gbps FC-type SFPs in 16 Gbps port blades only and
v The 10 Gbps ports can be configured manually on only the first eight ports of
v Support for all of the application, port blade, and control processor (CP) blades
v Beginning with Fabric OS v7.0.1, up to nine chassis can be connected with the
v Support for high-performance port blades running at 2, 4, 8, 10, or 16 Gbps,
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configurations with reduced footprint.
technology groups up to eight ports to create high performance 64-Gbps ISL
trunks between switches.
also supports 10 GbE SFPs in the FX8-24 extension blades. These two types of
SFPs are not interchangeable.
the 16 Gbps port blades.
supported in the SAN768B-2 (with the exception of the Core Switch Blade),
providing flexible system configurations and fewer types of new blades.
use of 4x16 Gbps quad SFP (QSFP) inter-chassis links (ICLs). Fabric OS v7.0.0
permits up to six chassis to be linked.
enabling flexible system configuration.
®
, SAN backbones are designed to address
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