INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Data Centres
ASIC that provides Visibility Services from the physical wire to virtual networks and workloads .
Brocade SLX Insight Architecture and Brocade SLX Visibility Services deliver a new approach to network monitoring and troubleshooting that makes it faster , easier , and more cost-effective to get the comprehensive , real-time visibility needed for network operations and automation . This innovative approach provides comprehensive visibility from the network to the workload including the ability to address end-user application or service needs , analyse , automate , and generate reports on contextrich data , and provide the fine-grain targeted visibility needed to tune the network for specific device or service needs .
New automation suites , including Network Essentials , Data Centre Fabrics and Internet Exchange Points for the Brocade Workflow Composer platform , powered by StackStorm , provide automated network provisioning , validation , troubleshooting and remediation workflows . These automation suites are ideal for customers who want to jumpstart their automation journey with pre-built workflows to accelerate time-to-value . Introduced earlier this year , Brocade Workflow Composer is a server-based , DevOps-style network automation platform that integrates across IT domains for end-to-end workflow automation .
According to IDC , two-thirds of CEOs at Global 2000 companies will place digital transformation at the centre of their corporate strategies by the end of 2017 . CEOs recognise they must become a digital organisation to accelerate the pace of innovation and drive competitive advantage or risk being displaced by more nimble competitors . Fast innovation can only happen with an agile IT foundation where automation works seamlessly with network visibility while digitally
YAROB SAKHNINI Regional Director , MEMA at Brocade
connecting all IT domains and functions together to eliminate silos and deliver end-to-end automation .
“ Organisations that are going through digital transformation need networks that are extremely agile , extensively automated and highly visible ,” said Jason Nolet , senior vice president , Switching , Routing and Analytics Products Group , Brocade . “ Brocade is delivering the breadth and depth of flexibility and agility that sets us apart from other network providers . We do so vertically across the data centre stack , and horizontally across domains within the data centre — while being open at every layer .”
Brocade SLX family advancements
• The new Brocade SLX 9140 leaf switch provides native 48 × 25 GbE server-facing ports and 6 × 100 GbE ports in a 1U fixed form factor . It also features flexible 1 / 10 / 25 / 40 / 100 GbE configuration options .
• The new Brocade SLX 9240 spine switch delivers high density 32 × 100 GbE ports in a 1U fixed form factor .
• Both the Brocade SLX 9140 and SLX 9240 switches feature the first programmable ASIC in their class of switch enabling Brocade to rapidly deliver new capabilities via software . This eliminates expensive forklift upgrades for customers when new technologies and protocols are introduced into the environment . The ASIC builds on the Brocade SLX Insight Architecture , an open kernel-based virtual machine ( KVM ) environment to run third-party and customer-specific monitoring , troubleshooting and analytics applications , by adding Visibility Services to provide insight into virtual networks and workloads . Actions can be taken within the switch or through applications and tools outside of the switch , such as Splunk or Brocade Workflow Composer .
• The Brocade SLX 9540 switch delivers carrier-class features in a cost-effective 1 RU fixed form factor optimised for data centre interconnect , WAN edge and Internet exchange point deployments . It offers 48 × 10 GbE ports and 6 × 100 GbE ports .
Brocade Workflow Composer automation suites Designed to run with the Brocade Workflow Composer platform , Brocade automation suites are ideal for IT organisations seeking to embrace automation but have limited automation development skills and resources . The suites provide outof-box network lifecycle automation for commonly performed tasks and are packaged to address major use cases . Each automation suite includes documentation and a collection of turnkey , yet customisable workflows , services , sensors , actions , and rules . Customers can use Brocade automation suites as is or as starter kits for building or customising workflows specific to their data centre requirements to reduce time-to-value .
Availability The Brocade SLX 9140 and SLX 9240 are currently planned to be orderable in January 2017 . The Brocade SLX 9540 is orderable today . All switches are planned to be generally available in April 2017 . Brocade Workflow Composer is generally available today . The new automation suites will be available for preview in December 2016 with general availability planned for February 2017 .
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