Brocade Intros Mainframe Options

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Brocade(R) (Nasdaq:BRCD), the leader in networked storage solutions that help enterprisesconnect and manage their information, today announced new breakthroughsthat allow IBM mainframe customers to dramatically reduce the complexityand cost of data center and disaster recovery solutions.

The new Brocade solution -- enabled via a recent software release onits Storage Area Network (SAN) director, switch, and router products --allows System z customers, for the first time ever, to utilizecost-effective IP Wide-Area-Network (WAN) links to transmit FICON(R) dataover long distances. The FICON protocol is used for mainframe storagehosts.

The unique Brocade implementation of FICON over IP WANs increasesefficiency for IBM mainframe disk and tape storage solutions, whileproviding extended distance support for IBM Global Mirroring applications.Previously, customers typically had to rely on more-expensive, dedicatednetwork links for these long-distance connectivity solutions.

"Many enterprises around the world continue to depend upon theirmainframe environments for their mission-critical applications, and theyneed solutions that allow them to further boost data protection for thesecritical systems while also reducing costs," said Richard Villars, VicePresident of Storage Systems research at IDC. "As a leading supplier ofstorage networking solutions for IBM mainframe customers (through itsmerger with McDATA), Brocade's delivery of FICON-over-IP extension optionsfor IBM storage systems makes it clear that the company intends to maintaina leading role in helping enterprises better use and protect their coreinformation assets."

Brocade Communications Systems Inc.