Brocade MLXe Core Routers and Brocade ADX Application Delivery Switches Provide New Levels of Scale and Control for SDN-enabled Core Networks

Brocade (Nasdaq: BRCD) today announced the industry’s highest core router density with the introduction of the new 24-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GbE) module for Brocade® MLXe® Series routers, delivering industry-leading density and performance for software-defined networking (SDN), with the ability to scale up to 768 ports of 10 GbE in a single chassis. Based on Brocade MaxScale-160 Packet Processor technology with fourth-generation silicon innovation, the new module triples existing 10 GbE density and is purpose-built for high-capacity, high-performance data centre core and service provider networks. Brocade also introduced the 12.5 software release for Brocade ADX® Application Delivery Switches, delivering a new multitenancy capability without compromising performance or flexibility.

Massive increases in data traffic – driven by video, mobile devices and the cloud – have changed network traffic characteristics, creating the need for new network architectures from data centres to the service provider core. The Brocade MLXe router with the new 24-port 10 GbE module is optimised for large-scale service provider “Supercore” networks and Internet data centre core applications where high port density, scalable MPLS, rich routing and deep buffering capabilities are required. The router’s industry-leading 10 GbE density and performance, coupled with Brocade 100 GbE technology and massive MPLS capacity, enable dramatic simplification and capacity scalability of core networks.

Using the new 24-port 10 GbE module, carriers can create highly scalable BGP-free MPLS “Supercore” networks optimised for high-speed transport and fast convergence. By reducing the number of devices and eliminating IP routing from the core of the network, providers can greatly simplify their architectures and reduce both capital expenditure and operational costs. This approach is also a key enabler of SDN that leverages technologies such as OpenFlow to control individual traffic flows up to 100 Gbps using the Brocade MLXe router. As a result, Brocade customers can maximise network resource utilisation and improve traffic control to deliver differentiated SLAs and significant business value to their own customers.

For network operators in large data centres, the 768-port density achieved with the new 24-port 10 GbE module provides significant advancements for consolidation at the core of the network. With advanced Layer 3 switching capabilities – and full-feature support for access control, routing and forwarding with industry-leading 64-port Link Aggregation (LAG) capacity – the Brocade MLXe router in the core of the data centre seamlessly complements Brocade VCS® Fabric technology running on the family of Brocade VDX® switches in the access and aggregation layers.

“Network operators are challenged to scale their networks and manage increasing complexity – with more routers, more subnets and massive dynamic flows,” said Ken Cheng, vice president of Service Provider and Application Delivery Products at Brocade. “The Brocade MLXe Core Router with the new 24-port 10 GbE module and industry-leading SDN technology will enable them to significantly scale their core networks to do more while greatly reducing network complexity and cost.”

Today Brocade also introduced significant enhancements to the Brocade ADX Application Delivery Switch with the 12.5 software release, which delivers a new multitenancy capability supported in hardware. This feature combines the flexibility of application delivery resource virtualisation with the performance of purpose-built hardware. It significantly advances application delivery deployment models for cloud and hosting providers and service-oriented enterprise IT organisations by enabling them to create highly consolidated, multitenant environments while delivering the same SLAs and granular tiered-service offerings.

This true carrier-grade multitenant architecture isolates customers or applications with dedicated hardware allocation of application delivery resources, and a flexible design enables these resources to be cost-effectively scaled up or down as requirements change. This flexibility, along with the Brocade Network Subscription capacity-on-demand subscription model that aligns infrastructure cost to business needs, gives providers a highly elastic infrastructure acquisition and deployment model that matches the way they deliver cloud services. By fully virtualising their networks to simplify the provisioning of new services and maximise infrastructure utilisation, they can achieve much higher network efficiency – reducing the number of devices to deploy and manage from 32 to just one while lowering associated power and space costs by up to 70 percent.

Continued Commitment to Software-Defined Networking (SDN)
The new products introduced today support SDN, building on Brocade’s strategy and vision for SDN announced earlier this year. SDN is gaining broad support from network operators within enterprises and cloud service providers, as it enables new levels of control over the network, transforming the network from a static, monolithic framework into a dynamic, agile and intelligent architecture. According to IDC, the SDN market is set to reach $2B by 2016.[1] Through the implementation of SDN, customers can unleash the full potential of their networking infrastructure in order to realise increased business agility, additional revenue streams from new service models and better IT asset utilisation.

With support for OpenFlow in Hybrid Mode, the 10 GbE and 100 GbE Brocade MLXe solutions seamlessly integrate with existing networks to enable SDN in conjunction with traditional networking capabilities, providing the flexible flow control to respond to dynamic traffic patterns and address business needs. Brocade ADX platforms are also optimised for SDN, providing an application services fabric with a unified control plane and an API for resource assignment, enabling customised orchestration and provisioning of both physical and logical resources.

Continued Momentum and Broad Industry Support
Brocade continues to drive innovation around various aspects of SDN through its close collaboration with key technology partners, industry regulatory bodies and early adopter customers.

Rob Vietzke, Vice President of Network Services, Internet2
“Internet2 is a consortium made up of research and higher education facilities from around the country, supplying the world’s leading research facilities with advanced networks and services to support high-performance computing (HPC) capabilities,” said Rob Vietzke, vice president of network services at Internet2. “Because our customers depend on us to provide them with high availability, advanced data movement 24×7 and the ability to innovate new applications to support breakthrough science, we needed a solution like OpenFlow with support for flows greater than 10G. We needed both high-performance 100G and the innovation capabilities of SDN and OpenFlow. Brocade has recognised those needs and made the investments to make that advanced production environment for innovation possible.”

Dan Pitt, Executive Director, Open Networking Foundation (ONF)
“Many of the products that member companies are announcing are instrumental in helping advance the adoption of SDN and OpenFlow,” said Dan Pitt, executive director at ONF. “We applaud the Foundation’s member companies as they continue to execute on SDN strategy and roadmap. By building products with industry-leading density and performance, member companies will enable customers across the industry to adopt SDN and OpenFlow technologies in a logical and predictive manner.”

Additional Resources

    Event – Register to view sessions from Brocade Analyst and Technology Day 2012 (www.brocade.com/analystandtechnologyday)

    Video – Keith Stewart, senior director, Brocade (http://youtu.be/509edW163IA)

    Video – Brocade Enables Hardware-Based Application Delivery Virtualisation to Optimise Cloud Service Delivery (http://youtu.be/5Z0BrN0OHNU)

    Video – Internet2 Leverages Brocade to Provide 100GbE and Support SDN (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2F0dq_ChCY&feature=youtu.be)

    Video – Brocade Drives Network Innovation with Software-Defined Networking (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu9R_LaZbF0)

    Additional News Today: Brocade Expands Ethernet Fabric Scalability with the New Brocade VDX 8770 Switch (http://newsroom.brocade.com/)

    Images: Flickr Page: (http://www.flickr.com/photos/33437642@N02/sets/)