Silkworm 12000 Based San Designs - Brocade Communications Systems SilkWorm 12000 Design, Deployment And Management Manual

SilkWorm 12000 Based SAN Designs

This chapter includes the following sections:
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Scalability on page 3-3
•
Performance on page 3-4
•
Availability on page 3-8
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SilkWorm 12000 Based Fabric Topologies on page 3-10
This chapter assumes that the reader is familiar with the following concepts:
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Core/edge topology characteristics
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Locality
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Multi-fabric architectures
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Congestion
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Over-subscription
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Device placement strategies
For detailed information about the concepts listed above, refer to the Brocade SAN Design Guide (part
number: 53-0000231) and the book Building SANs with Brocade Fabric Switches by Syngress press
(ISBN: 1-928994-30-x).
The SilkWorm 12000 is an exceptionally flexible storage-networking switch. Its enhanced network
features, high port density, high availability, and broad compatibility allow this switch to fill many
different roles. It can be used to form a single-switch 64-port fabric, a two-switch fabric of up to 124
ports, a member of a full mesh, or the core or edge of a highly scalable core/edge fabric. The SilkWorm
12000 is also backwards compatible with the SilkWorm 2000 and 3000 series switches to protect
customer investment. Figure 3-1 illustrates these topologies.
Publication Number 53-0000251-02
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