NetApp Teams With Brocade to Strengthen Data Centre Offering
SYDNEY, Australia. - February 27, 2008
-- NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) today announced an extension to its
existing relationship with Brocade® (NASDAQ: BRCD) that will
strengthen the NetApp® storage and data management offering
and further enable customers to enhance their data centres. As a
result of this relationship, NetApp will OEM the Brocade DCX™
Backbone as part of its data centre portfolio.
The Brocade DCX Backbone is the first in a
new class of high-performance data centre networking products
designed to address the demanding requirements of evolving data
centres. The Brocade DCX Backbone plays a key role in delivering a
data centre fabric (DCF) architecture that enables customers to
enhance their data centre infrastructures for maximum performance,
flexibility, and investment protection. In addition, it supports
important industry trends such as server virtualisation and
reducing power consumption. As a result, the Brocade DCX Backbone
is an ideal complement to NetApp's industry-leading unified storage
platforms, including the FAS3000 series and FAS6000 series,
providing customers with the ability to achieve increased service
levels; higher asset utilisation; and greater data centre power,
space, and cooling efficiencies.
"Brocade and NetApp are aligned in our
commitment to helping data centre managers succeed with the next
generation of networked storage solutions by providing
comprehensive and flexible deployment options," said Ian Whiting,
vice president and general manager of the Brocade Data Centre
Infrastructure division. "With the Brocade DCX, this strategy
includes a future path to improved Fibre Channel or Ethernet
interoperability and consolidation. The advanced and unified
capabilities of NetApp storage solutions coupled with the Brocade
DCX provide customers with industry-leading interoperability and
investment protection."
"The Brocade DCX Backbone is a great match
for NetApp's unified storage platform," said Patrick Rogers, vice
president of Solutions Marketing for NetApp. "With our enterprise
customers placing so much emphasis on rationalising and
virtualising their data centre infrastructure, the combination of
the DCX Backbone with our FAS systems will be instrumental in
helping them realise their objectives. Furthermore, our ongoing
relationship with Brocade continues to enhance our SAN
interoperability and data centre storage portfolio."
Playing an integral role in the evolution of
the data centre, the Brocade DCX Backbone is more scalable than
traditional SAN directors, accommodating more virtualised
applications to streamline IT processes. With the industry's
highest density footprint, the Brocade DCX Backbone requires only
half the power of competitive offerings to deliver five times the
bandwidth, dramatically reducing energy costs. The Brocade DCX
Backbone also provides an adaptive platform for ensuring quality of
service (QoS) to virtualised applications and data in server,
networking, and storage complexes.
In addition, the Brocade DCX Backbone better
enables NetApp customers to consolidate their data management and
storage environments into logical, multiprotocol infrastructures
for both Fibre Channel and Ethernet SANs and supports existing and
emerging protocols. Furthermore, it enables interoperability
between Brocade, Brocade M-Series, and other vendor fabrics to help
maximize ROI.
Availability
The Brocade DCX Backbone is immediately available globally from
NetApp and NetApp authorised channel partners.
About Brocade
Brocade is a leading provider of data centre networking solutions
that help organisations connect, share, and manage their
information in the most efficient manner. Organisations that use
Brocade products and services are better able to optimise their IT
infrastructures and ensure compliant data management. For more
information, visit the Brocade Web site at www.brocade.com or
contact the company at info@brocade.com.
About NetApp
NetApp is a leading provider of innovative data management
solutions that simplify the complexity of storing, managing,
protecting, and retaining enterprise data. Market leaders around
the world choose NetApp to help them reduce cost, minimise risk,
and adapt to change. For solutions that deliver unmatched
simplicity and value, visit us on the Web at http://www.netapp.com/au/.
NetApp and the NetApp logo are trademarks
or registered trademarks of NetApp, Inc. in the United States
and/or other countries. All other brands or products are trademarks
or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be
treated as such.
Media Contact:
Alex Merton-McCann
Max Australia
Tel: (02) 9954 3492
alex.mertonmccann@maxaustralia.com.au