Brocade 300 SAN Fiber Switch, 24-Port, 8 Gpbs

The Brocade 300 is an 8 Gbps Fibre Channel switch that provides an affordable entry-level solution for small SANs or the edge of larger SANs. It enables small to medium-sized enterprises to simplify their IT infrastructures, improve system performance, maximize the value of virtual server deployments, and reduce overall storage costs.

Highly Affordable SAN Technology
The Brocade 300 provides exceptional performance and functionality at an entry-level cost. It combines auto-sensing 1, 2, 4, and 8 Gbps Fibre Channel throughput with features that greatly enhance fabric operation. The Brocade 300 provides these capabilities while consuming less than 2.5 watts of power per port for exceptional power and cooling efficiency.

The Brocade 300 features a non-blocking architecture with as many as 24 ports concurrently active at 8 Gbps (full duplex) with no over-subscription—providing an overall bandwidth of 192 Gbps. In addition, enhanced Brocade ISL Trunking enables a single logical high-speed trunk capable of up to 64 Gbps of throughput.

Simplified Management
Brocade 300 setup and configuration is simplified with the Brocade EZSwitchSetup wizard, which makes switch configuration, deployment, and management an easy three-step point-and-click process. For multiswitch environments, Brocade Network Advisor provides comprehensive management of data center fabrics, including configuration, monitoring, and management of Brocade backbones, switches, and adapters. The Brocade 300, which is Microsoft Simple SAN-compatible, also has a USB port that increases serviceability and error logging by facilitating firmware upgrades and downloads of system log files.

Fast And Easy Scalability
The Brocade 300 is easy to deploy, manage, and integrate into both new and existing IT environments. With capabilities such as Ports on Demand (PoD) scalability from 8 to 16 or 24 ports, the Brocade 300 enables organizations to grow their storage networks when necessary, in a non-disruptive manner. In addition, organizations can initially deploy 4 Gbps SFPs and upgrade to 8 Gbps SFP+ when desired.

Advanced Connectivity Options
The Brocade 300 can be deployed as a full-fabric switch or as a Brocade Access Gateway, which provides server connectivity into any SAN (the default mode setting is a switch). Access Gateway mode utilizes N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) switch standards to present servers as logical devices directly to the core of SAN fabrics. Attaching through NPIV-enabled switches and directors, the Brocade 300 in Brocade Access Gateway mode can connect to Brocade, McDATA, or other SAN fabrics.

Brocade 300 Specifications:

Fibre Channel ports

• Switch mode (default): 8-, 16-, and 24-port configurations (8-port increments through Ports on Demand [PoD] licenses); E_, F_, M_, FL_ Ports
• Brocade Access Gateway Default Port Mapping: 16 F_Ports, 8 N_Ports

Scalability

• Full fabric architecture with 239 switches maximum

Certified maximum

• Single Brocade FOS fabric: 56 domains, 19 hops
• Single Brocade M-Enterprise OS (M-EOS) fabric: 31 domains, 3 hops
• Larger fabrics certified as required; consult Brocade or OEM SAN design documents for configuration details

Performance

• 1.063 Gbps line speed, full duplex; 2.125 Gbps line speed, full duplex; 4.25 Gbps line speed, full duplex; 8.5 Gbps line speed, full duplex; auto-sensing of 1, 2, 4, and 8 Gbps port speeds; optionally programmable to fixed port speed; speed matching between 1, 2, 4, and 8 Gbps ports

ISL Trunking

• Brocade Frame-based Trunking with up to eight 8 Gbps ports per ISL trunk with optional license; up to 64 Gbps per ISL trunk (8 ports × 8 Gbps [data rate])
• Exchange-based load balancing across ISLs with DPS included in Brocade Fabric OS

Aggregate bandwidth

• 192 Gbps: 24 ports × 8 Gbps (data rate)

Maximum fabric latency

• 700 ns with no contention, cut-through routing at 8 Gbps

Maximum frame size

• 2112-byte payload

Frame buffers

• 700 dynamically allocated, 484 maximum per port

Classes of service

• Class 2, C lass 3, C lass F (inter-switch frames)

Port types

• FL_Port, F_Port, M_Port (Mirror Port), and E_Port; optional port type control
• Brocade Access Gateway mode: F_Port and NPIV-enabled N_Port

Data traffic types

• Fabric switches supporting unicast, multicast (255 groups) and broadcast

Media types

• 8 Gbps: Brocade 300 requires Brocade hot-pluggable SFP+, LC connector; 8 Gbps SWL, LWL, ELWL
• 4 Gbps: Brocade 300 requires Brocade hot-pluggable SFP+, LC connector; 4 Gbps SWL, LWL, ELWL