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Networking solutions specialist Brocade announced the availability of application delivery hardware and software solutions specifically designed for small and midsize businesses. The new extension to the Brocade ServerIron ADX 4000, an entry-level chassis solution that provides Layer 4-7 switching performance and helps enable midmarket companies to increase their flexibility and scalability benefits through a modular platform. The ServerIron ADX 4000 ASM-4 module will be generally available on Sept. 23 via select Brocade value-added resellers and directly from Brocade.
The license-activated, capacity on-demand scalability of the ASM-4 module enables customers to adopt a “pay-as-you-grow” investment approach, which Brocade claims allowes them to double their throughput and future-proof their application delivery networks without adding hardware or removing the switches from the network.
“Virtualization and cloud computing present highly compelling business benefits for enterprise customers of all sizes, such that Brocade has taken a proactive approach to developing a wide range of new solutions designed to reduce network complexity resulting from the deployment of virtual environments,” said Jason Nolet, vice president of Brocade’s data center and enterprise networking group. “Building upon extensive experience in the data center, where reliability and preservation of data integrity are critical, Brocade is committed to creating innovative networking technologies that help customers simplify the implementation and management of virtualizing their applications.”
The ServerIron ADX 4000 ASM-4 bundle provides eight ports of 1 Gbps small form-factor pluggable (SFP) copper connectivity, with the option to use fiber SFPs on all ports. It also offers enhanced performance via a robust services platform with built-in extensibility and interoperability across fabrics and networking protocols. In addition, the Brocade Application Resource Broker software module that provides visibility into application performance across the network and virtual machine (VM) infrastructures.
Application Resource Broker helps ensure that application service level agreements (SLAs) are met by allocating additional resources to address increases in application load. The software module leverages the position of the ServerIron ADX within the network to deliver a range of capabilities that are built-in to the VMware vSphere interface, including real-time monitoring, measurement, correlation and application-centric reporting through the vSphere administrative interface via a client plug-in
Other features include on-demand, automated, policy-based provisioning and de-provisioning of resources based on application performance metrics from the ServerIron ADX and the VMware vCenter Server and historical tracking and trending of application performance metrics to reveal changing requirements.
“The network plays a critical role in the process of virtual application delivery and is of utmost importance as we look toward the accelerated migration to cloud computing,” said Parag Patel, vice president of VMware’s global strategic alliances. “Our partnership with Brocade will help customers tightly integrate networking layers with the VMware platform, thereby streamlining network management and taking a significant step toward delivering IT as a service.”
Brocade also recently unveiled Brocade One, a unifying network strategy. To support this strategy, Brocade has also introduced Brocade Virtual Cluster Switching (VCS), a technology that addresses the requirements of virtualized data centers. Brocade VCS enables customers to build and manage data center fabrics that can consolidate and manage tens of thousands of VMs.