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WHITEPAPERAnoverviewofthewide-ranging,measurablebenefitsofanintelligentcore-to-edgeSANfabricinfrastructureBROCADESANSOLUTIONS:AMOREEFFECTIVEAPPROACHTOINFORMATIONSTORAGEANDMANAGEMENTAsorganizationsfacetheprospectofstoringandmanaginganincreasingamountofinformation,theyarerapidlyturningtoStorageAreaNetworks(SANs)asacost-effectivewaytoimplementahighlystrategictechnologyinfrastructure.SANsaredesignedtopro-videaflexibleenvironmentthatdecouplesserversfromtheirstoragedevicesthroughtheuseofFibreChannelswitchtechnology(commonlyreferredtoastheSANfabric).Bycombiningflexibilityandintelligence,SANsaddresstoday’smostchallengingbusi-nessrequirements:howtoprotectandaccesscriticaldata,howtoutilizecomputingresourcesmoreefficiently,andhowtoensurethehighestlevelsofbusinesscontinuance.DrivingthemigrationtoSANsaresolutionssuchastheBrocade®SilkWorm®familyoffabricswitchesandsoftware,whichprovidesthereliable,high-performancedatatrans-fersocriticaltoefficientSANoperations.Today,organizationsaroundtheglobearerapidlydeployingcore-to-edgeSANfabricsbuiltonintelligentBrocadehardwareandsoftwareofferings—andenjoyingthefastReturnOnInvestment(ROI)providedbyawidevarietyofSANapplications.TheGrowingNeedforMoreEfficientInformationManagementDuringthelastdecade,ever-increasinginformationaccessrequirementshavehadapro-foundeffectonmostdatacenters.Storagecapacityrequirementshaveskyrocketed.Thewindowsoftimeavailablefordatabackupandrecoveryhavevirtuallydisappeared.AndITstaffshavefacedgreaterpressuretokeeppacewithgrowth—whilereducingcosts.Asaresult,manyorganizationshavebeensearchingformorecost-effectivewaystoincreasebothdataavailabilityandmanageability.Thegoalofthissearchisastrategicstorageinfrastructurethatefficientlymanagesandprotectscriticalbusinessinformation.Thisinfrastructuremustbeabletoscalequicklytohandlecontinueddatagrowth—adifficultproblemfortraditionalDirect-AttachedStorage(DAS)models.Toaddresstheserequirements,manyorganizationsareembrac-ingamorestrategicenterprisestorageinfrastructurebasedonintelligentSANs.12TheManyAdvantagesofaSANInfrastructureBecausetheyleverageawiderangeofinnovativetechnologies,SANsextendmanynewcapabilitiesthroughouttheenterprise.Ingeneral,SANsarenetworkedstorageenviron-mentsthatprovidescalable,reliableITinfrastructurestomeetthemostdemandingrequirementsforhigh-availability,high-performancestorageapplications.IntheSANmodel,switchesprovideconnectivitybetweenserversandstoragedevices—enablingmoreflexibleconnectivityoptionsandgreaterresourcesharing(seeFigure1).Today,thestandardprotocolforSANsisFibreChanneltechnology,whichsupportshighlevelsofscalability,performance,andmanageabilityandhelpsovercomethedistancelimitationsofotherconnectivityprotocolssuchasSCSI.FibreChanneltechnologyalsoenablesaflexiblenetworkedenvironmentthatisoptimizedforhigh-speedserver-to-storagedatacommunicationsandconnectivity.ByimplementingastrategicSAN,organizationscanrevitalizetheirITinfrastructuretoaddresssomeoftoday’smostchallengingbusinessrequirements,including:•Howtocentralizestoragemanagementandreduceadministrativecosts•Howtoensurethatdataisreadilyaccessibleacrosstheenterprise•Howtooptimizetheutilizationoftechnologyandpersonnelresources•HowtomaximizesystemanddataavailabilitytosupportthehighestlevelsofbusinesscontinuanceImprovedROIforStorageEnvironmentsOneofthegreatestadvantagesofSANsistheirabilitytosignificantlyreduceoverallstorageandoperatingcosts.Infact,SANsoftenprovidemorethana50percentsav-ingsbenefitoverDASenvironments.Muchofthissavingsresultsfromcentralizedstorageandsimplifiedmanagement—typicallythehighestcostsassociatedwithaDASenvironment.Forinstance,anITcentrixstudyrevealedthatSANscanreducemanagementcoststojust15percentofthetotalstoragecost,comparedtoanaver-ageof55percentforDASenvironments.WHITEPAPERDASEnvironmentHostRAIDLANRAIDTapeLibraryTapeLibrarySANEnvironmentHostHostLANSwitchFigure1.SimplifiedresourcesharingthroughaBrocadeSANInaddition,SANscanprovideanextremelyfastROI,withmanySANimplementa-tionsprovidingapaybackinsixmonthsorless.Forexample,asmeasuredbyanROItooljointlydevelopedbyBrocadeandKPMG,aleadingfinancialsoftwarecompanyachievedatwo-monthpaybackforitshigh-availabilitySANimplementationandafour-monthpaybackforitsstorageconsolidationimplementation.Moreover,aleadingtelecommunicationscompanyinlargeparthasbeenabletoavoidasmuchas$5milliondollarsperdayinlostopportunitycosts,basedontheimprovedfaulttoleranceandgreaterflexibilityprovidedbyitsBrocadeSANimplementation.Toenablesuchimpressiveresults,BrocadeSANsprovideaflexible,manageablestorageinfrastructurethatsupportsvirtuallyunlimiteddatagrowththrough“pay-as-you-grow”scalability.Thisflexibleframeworkenablesorganizationstoeasilyscaleuptheirserverandstorageinfrastructures—withoutinhibitingperformanceordisruptingoperationsontherestofthesystem.SANsalsoimprovestorageresourcemanagementthroughcentralization,evenwithindistributedITarchitectures.Forexample,intelligentSANsoftwaretoolsenableorgan-izationstoallocatestoragetovarioushosts,thenreplicatedata,backitup,andmonitoritonacontinualbasis.Thesecapabilitiesa