Hewlett-Packard Enterprise would like to take this opportunity to remind everybody in the room that it makes and sells networking hardware and software. The internet networking business isn’t only about Cisco Systems, IBM, Juniper Networks, Huawei and Avaya.
Thus, admins and managers will be interested to hear the following networking tech news, which doesn’t come out frequently from HPE or anybody else. Networking equipment systems don’t get replaced all that often—not nearly like the breakneck turnover we see in servers, laptops and phones.
The Palo Alto, Calif.-based IT provider on July 2 introduced a new StoreFabric C-series SN6610C 32Gb FC switch and the HPE StoreFabric C-series SN8500C 48-port 32Gb FC director module as extensions to its 32Gb Fibre Channel portfolio. Available with 8, 16, 24 or 32 ports, it is ideal for small-department storage-area network, ToR (top-of-rack) switch or native Fibre Channel SAN extension. See, this is indeed techy talk.
Co-Designed with Cisco Systems
HPE knows where the business lies; they enact partnerships with the biggest players in order to get some of their equipment into a system, because there is generally room for all kinds of logos in a new-gen data center. HPE developed in conjunction with Cisco these new networking components, which are designed to future-proof customer networks amid a growing need for high-density, high-speed, high-performance storage connectivity.
This is all about supporting faster analytics, transaction processing and data warehousing; odd as it may seem, teaming up with competitors is sometimes the way to get a solution up and running faster and more efficiently.
Here’s the rundown on the three new networking products:
HPE StoreFabric C-series SN6610C 32Gb FC Switch: The SN6610C helps customers transition to next-generation storage networks with features designed to maximize availability, performance and resiliency. It lowers costs by reducing power consumption and increases visibility with line-rate monitoring for traffic analytics. Expandable from 8 to 32 ports, it is aimed at small-departmental storage-area networks (with VSANs for separation), use as a top-of-rack switch or as a native FC SAN extension.
HPE StoreFabric SN8500C 48-port 32Gb FC Director Module (pictured): The 48-port 32Gb module for SN8500C FC switches gives users mode deployment options and future-proofs their storage fabrics, ostensibly reducing the price per-port and leaving fewer ports stranded at the core and edge. Enabling deployment of higher-density directors also reduces facility costs including power and cooling, simplifies management and increases flexibility to enable rapid traffic growth. Network-hosted volume management promotes higher storage utilization, simplified management and non-disruptive data migration.
HPE StoreFabric B-series SN6650B 128/48 Fibre Channel Switch: The StoreFabric SN6650B is designed to reduce SAN bottlenecks by delivering high performance and low latency for demanding business applications. It automates tedious SAN zoning configurations, making them easy and error-free with orchestration from 3PAR in just a few clicks.
“All-flash storage and NVMe (non-volatile memory) devices provide a wide variety of benefits, but they can also impose a considerable performance tax on infrastructure,” Marty Lans, General Manager of Storage Connectivity Engineering and Global Interoperability Business Unit at HPE, said in a media advisory. “These new platforms, all of which are NVMe-ready, are designed to meet and even exceed these new requirements with a combination of high bandwidth, low latency, easy manageability and rapid scalability.”
With data centers only continuing to grow and densify and response time requirements becoming more stringent, 32Gb FC–once seemingly a nice-to-have or a component of some ideal future state–is fast becoming a necessity. Offering an ideal combination of high performance, footprint reduction and ease-of-management, the expanding 32Gb FC portfolio gives users the flexibility to expand their storage fabrics with options from their choice of top vendors.
The HPE StoreFabric C-series SN6610C 32Gb FC Switch (pictured) and the HPE StoreFabric C-series SN8500C 48-port 32Gb FC Director Module are available immediately.