Dell 8/4 Gbps FC SAN Module
Seamlessly integrate your M-series blade servers

Overview:

Get enterprise-class performance, improved scalability and easy deployment with the Dell™ 8/4 Gbps FC SAN Module — a flexible, standards-based platform that works seamlessly with your blade servers.

• NPIV standards-based solution ensures connectivity into the SAN infrastructure of your choice.
• Port aggregation capabilities reduce the cost and complexity of deploying M-series blades into existing storage area networks (SANs).
• Support for 8/4/2 Gbps Fibre Channel (FC) SANs provides investment protection for current and future SANs.

Simplified networking for your data center

Connect to the Fibre Channel (FC) storage area network (SAN) of your choice while still providing failover and port aggregation benefits that high-density, high-performance data centers require.

The Dell™ 8/4 Gbps FC SAN Module — when combined with an N_port ID Virtualization (NPIV)-enabled FC SAN and any of the Fibre Channel HBA mezzanine cards available for M-Series blades — leverages your SAN fabric management infrastructure and simplifies blade deployment.

Simplified connectivity and interoperability

The Dell 8/4Gbps FC SAN Module eliminates the traditional challenges of heterogeneous switch-to-switch interoperability. Built on industry-standard N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) technology, the Dell 8/4Gbps FC SAN Module non-disruptively connects Dell blades to NPIV-enabled FC SANs, including Cisco, Brocade, McDATA, and others.

Improved scalability for your data center

By leveraging NPIV technology, the Dell 8/4Gbps FC SAN Module allows you to deploy M-Series blades into FC SANs without introducing additional switch domains into your data center.

The Dell 8/4Gbps FC SAN Module combines cost-effective deployment with scalable port upgrade capabilities for up to 24 8Gbit/sec Fibre Channel ports. Dynamically grow from 12 ports to 24 as needed in your data center through pay-as-you-grow license upgrades.

Investment Protection

The Dell 8/4Gbps FC SAN Module ensures flexibility by offering connectivity to widely deployed 2/4Gbps FC SANs while providing a seamless path to newer 8Gbps.

Management

The Dell 8/4Gbps FC SAN Module eliminates incremental switch management and configuration by presenting Fibre Channel connections as a logical device (rather than switch domains) to the SAN fabric. Enjoy the benefits of port aggregation, failover, and redundancy without the complexities of additional SAN switches.

Connect without the headaches

• Experience plug-and-play simplicity with enterprise-class FC port aggregation.
• Minimize the number of touches required by storage and networking administrators in blade deployments.
• Integrate Dell M-Series blades into any NPIV-enabled FC SAN infrastructure easily.
• Get the best of all worlds with simplified I/O (input/output) management and beneficial port aggregation.

Simple and scalable

• Scale as needed from 12 to 24 ports to meet the changing demands of your data center.
• Enable multiple fabric support for you to isolate servers with special bandwidth requirements and connect to several fabrics using a single module.
• Enjoy peace of mind with automatic failover and failback.
• Ensure data security by employing device-based authorization and policy-based control of SAN connections all the way to individual servers and virtual machines.