Brocade Closes Out McData: Page 2 of 4

Brocade marketing VP Tom Buiocchi says overlapping products were removed, and most of what made the cut will be integrated into one platform when Fibre Channel gear moves to 8 Gbit/s. (See 8-Gig Fibre Hits Roadmaps.) None of the surviving products will bear the McData brand.

"Now we have to make sure our customers are comfortable with our decisions, " Buiocchi says. Translation: Brocade wants to keep McData customers from moving to Cisco.

Here is what the Brocade product platform looks like, post-acquisition:

• Directors: Brocade will keep McData's Intrepid 6140 and 10,000 directors -- renaming them the Brocade M6140 and Brocade Mi10K -- alongside the Brocade 48000 director. Buiocchi says the goal is to combine them into one director platform when it is time to upgrade to 8-Gbit/s gear, probably in 2008.

  Buicochi says he expects McData customers will prefer McData directors, especially those using them with mainframe FICON connectivity. He expects most new customers to prefer the Brocade 48000 directors.

• Fabric switches: Brocade will phase out McData Sphereon 4400 and 4700 fabric switches this year while continuing support for another five years. The Brocade 4900, 4100, and 200E switches remain.
• SAN Routing and Fibre Channel Extension over IP (FCIP) -- Brocade will keep its 7500 SAN Router and FR4-18i director blade for the 48000 for SAN extension, and kill the McData 2640 and 1620 routers this year. Like the fabric switches, Brocade will support the SAN routers for five years.

  For mainframe connectivity and FICON and ESCON extension, Brocade will retain the McData UltraNet platform. The UltraNet Edge Storage Router becomes the Brocade Edge M3000, and the UltraEdge Director eXtended becomes the Brocade USD-X6 and X-12.

• SAN Management Software: Brocade will keep McData's Enterprise Fabric Connectivity Manager (EFCM), which already can manage Brocade switches and directors. EFCM will replace the Brocade Fabric Manager by the middle of 2008. Brocade will keep its SAN Health diagnostic applications.
• Blade Switches: Brocade will discontinue selling McData blade server switches, which McData sold through a partnership with QLogic. (See McData Hops on QLogic Blades.) Brocade has its own family of blade switches.
• Virtualization: Brocade will kill McData's Application Services Module (ASM) platform rolled out just three months ago. (See McData Gets Virtual Act in Gear.) Brocade will rename its virtualization platform Brocade AP7420, and Buiocchi says there will be enhancements around midyear.
• WAFS: Brocade will also kill McData's WAFS product it began selling last year through an OEM deal with Riverbed. (See McData Hits Remote Control.) Brocade has a WAFS OEM deal with Riverbed rival Packeteer. (See Brocade & Packeteer Widen Target.)