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DATA CENTER

BROCADE VDX 6720 DATA CENTER SWITCHES

HIGHLIGHTS•Simplifiesnetworkarchitecturesandenablescloudcomputingbydeliveringvirtualclusterswitchingtechnology

•ProvidesPortsonDemandflexibility with16-,24-,40-,50-,and60-port 10GigabitEthernet(GbE)models builtonBrocadesixth-generation fabricswitchingtechnology

•Maximizesperformancethroughwire-speedportswith600nanosecondport-to-portlatencyandhardware-basedInter-SwitchLink(ISL)Trunking

•Providesmultihomedactive-activeserverconnectionsforEthernetnetworks

•Createsscale-outEthernetfabricsforvirtualizeddatacenters

•Enablesend-to-endconvergenceofFibreChanneloverEthernet(FCoE),iSCSI,andNASstoragetrafficalongwithIPLAN datatraffic

•Simplifiesmanagementbymaintainingnetworkpoliciesasvirtualmachinesmovethroughoutthedatacenter withAutomaticMigrationofPort Profiles(AMPP)

•Helpsreduceoperationalcostsandcomplexitybyenablingtheentirefabric tobemanagedasasingleswitch

Revolutionizing the Way Data Center Networks Are Built

AsITorganizationslookforbetterways tobuildcloudsandvirtualizeddata centers,theyareturningtohigh-performancenetworkingsolutionsthatincreaseflexibilitythroughleading-edge technologies.Brocade® VDX™ 6720 DataCenterSwitchesarespecificallydesignedtoimprovenetworkutilization,maximizeapplicationavailability,increasescalability,anddramaticallysimplifynetworkarchitectureinvirtualizeddatacenters.BydeliveringBrocadeVCS™ technology,theBrocadeVDX6720helpsorganizationsbuilddatacenterEthernetfabrics—revolutionizingthedesignofLayer2networksandprovidinganintelligentfoundationforcloudcomputing.

Whetherorganizationswanttoenhancetheirclassichierarchicalnetworkarchitectures,deployflatterscale-outfabricsforvirtualizeddatacenters,orconvergenetworks,theBrocadeVDX6720deliverstheinnovativetechnologytoenhanceandsimplifytheirnetworks.

ForclassicEthernetarchitectures,BrocadeVCStechnologyenablesorganizationstopreserveexistingnetworkdesignsandcabling,andtogainactive-activeserverconnectionswithoutemployingSpanningTreeProtocol(STP).Forscale-outfabricarchitectures,BrocadeVCStechnologyallowsorganizationstoflattenthenetwork design,provideVirtualMachine(VM)mobilitywithoutnetworkreconfiguration,andmanagetheentirefabricasasinglelogicalchassis.

FordatacentersthatcantakeadvantageofaconvergedLAN/SANenvironment,BrocadeVCStechnologyprovidesend-to-endDataCenterBridging(DCB)capabilities,enablingtraditionalIPandstoragetraffictoexistonthesamenetwork.OrganizationscanalsouseBrocadeVCStechnologytoprioritizeFibreChanneloverEthernet(FCoE)andiSCSItraffictomakesureitreceivessufficientbandwidthandremainslossless.

ENABLING CLOUD-OPTIMIZED NETWORKINGAvailableinmodelswith16,24,40,50,and60ports,thesedatacenterswitchesaredesignedtoexceedtherequirementsofemergingcloudcomputingarchitectures.Anewhardwaredesign,combinedwithBrocadeNetworkOperatingSystem(BrocadeNetworkOS),supportshigher-performancenetworks,greaternetworkutilization,andaddedflexibilityfortheentiredatacenter.Thesecapabilitiesarecriticalforscalingoutvirtualserverenvironmentsthatrequireseamlessmovement,addition,andremovalofapplicationresources.

Maximum Performance Tosupportmission-criticalenvironments,theBrocadeVDX6720deliverswire-speed10GigabitEthernet(GbE)performanceacrossallports,withport-to-portlatencyaslowas600nanoseconds—makingitoneofthefastestEthernetswitchesavailable.

Formaximumperformancewithinthefabric,Brocadehardware-basedInter-SwitchLink(ISL)Trunkingisautomaticallyusedbetweenswitches.Uptoeightlinkscan beincludedinatrunkgroup,forupto 80Gbpsofbalancedthroughput.Thisfeatureuseslinksveryefficientlyto increasethenumberofusableswitch portsforgreaterdeviceconnectivity.

Configuration Flexibility TheBrocadeVDX6720isalsodesignedformaximumflexibility.Eachportsupportsboth10GbEand1GbEconnections,providingthebandwidthneededfornewserverswhilesupportingexistingservers.Inaddition,multiplecablingoptionsareavailable,enablingamorecost-efficientnetworkdesign.Forexample,organizationscanusedirect-attachedcoppercablesforserverconnectionswithintherack,direct-attachedopticalcablesforswitch-to-switchfabricconnections,andopticsandfiber-opticcablingforuplinkstothenetworkcore.

PortsonDemandcapabilitiesareavailableforfast,easy,andcost-effectivescalability,withswitchmodelsrangingfrom16to60ports.Organizationscanpurchaseonlythenumberofportsthattheycurrentlyneedandseamlesslyscaleuplaterbysimplyapplyingasoftwarelicense.

Tosupportmodern,high-densityserverdesigns,the24-and60-portmodels haveswitchdepthsofonly15and17inches,respectively.Withreversiblefront-to-rearorrear-to-frontairflow,theBrocadeVDX6720alsosupportshigh-densityserverracksthathavespecificairflowrequirementsandaredesignedtoleverageadvancedcoolingtechnologiesandoptimizeutilizationoffloorspace.

Figure 1. ComparedtoclassicEthernetarchitectures,Ethernetfabricsallowallpathstobeactiveandprovidegreaterscalability—whilereducingmanagementcomplexity.

Servers with 10 Gbps Connections

Classic Hierarchical Ethernet Architecture

Servers with 10 Gbps Connections

Ethernet Fabric Architecture

Scalability

Core

Edge

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BROCADE VIRTUAL CLUSTER SWITCHING BrocadeNetworkOSdeliversBrocadeVCStechnology,whichincludesfourpillars ofinnovation:

•EthernetFabric

•DistributedIntelligence

•LogicalChassis

•DynamicServices

Ethernet Fabric BasedoncurrentandemergingopenstandardssuchasDCBandTransparentInterconnectionofLotsofLinks(TRILL),theEthernetfabricprovidesfullyactivemultipathing,rapidlinkreconvergence, andtheabilitytoconvergeSANandLANtraffic.OrganizationsdesigningamultipathLayer2EthernetnetworkdonotneedSTPwhenusingBrocadeVCStechnology.Thishelpsdoublenetworkutilizationwhiledramaticallyincreasingresiliency.

Distributed Intelligence Brocadefabrictechnologyactivelydistributesintelligenceacrossallmembersofthefabric.Configurationanddeviceinformationisknownbyalltheconnectedswitches,enablingfabricswitchestobeaddedorremoved,andphysicalorvirtualserverstoberelocated—withoutthefabricrequiringmanualreconfiguration.

DistributedintelligenceallowstheEthernetfabrictobe“self-forming.”WhentwoBrocadeswitcheswithVCScapabilitiesareconnected,thefabricisautomaticallycreated,andtheswitchesdiscoverthecommonfabricconfiguration.Scalingbandwidthinthefabricisassimpleasconnectinganotherlinkbetweenswitchesoraddinganewswitchasrequired.

WHAT IS AN ETHERNET FABRIC?ComparedtoclassichierarchicalEthernetarchitectures,Ethernetfabricsprovidehigherlevelsofperformance,utilization,availability,andsimplicity.BrocadeEthernetfabricshavethefollowingcharacteristics:

•Ethernetfabricsareself-aggregating,enablingaflatternetworkdesign.

•Switchesinthefabricalwaysknowabouteachotherandallconnecteddevices.

•Allpathsareavailableforhighperformanceandhighreliability.

•Trafficautomaticallytravelsacrosstheshortestpath.

•Thefabricismanagedasasinglelogicalentity.

Figure 2. BrocadeVCStechnologysimplifiesthenetworkarchitecture,enablesconvergence,improvesVMmobility,andallowstheseamlessinsertionofservices.

Dedicated FibreChannel SAN for Tier 1 applications

VCS fabricextension

Bladeservers Rack-mount

servers

REMOTEDATA CENTERPRIMARY

DATA CENTER

VM

VMVM

Corerouters

FCoE/iSCSI/NASstorage

VM

VM

VM

VM

VM

VM

SAN

PublicNetwork

VM

VCS fabricextension

NativeFibre ChannelSecurity services

(firewall, encryption)

Layer 4–7application delivery

TheEthernetfabricdoesnotmandateaspecifictopology,soitdoesnotdictateoversubscriptionratios.Asaresult,organizationscancreateatopologythatbestmeetsspecificapplicationrequirements.Unlikeothertechnologies,BrocadeVCStechnologyenablesdifferentend-to-endsubscriptionratiostobecreatedorfine-tunedasapplicationdemandschangeovertime.

Logical Chassis AllswitchesinanEthernetfabricbehaveasalogicalchassisandaremanagedasasingleswitch.Insteadofeachtop-of-rackswitchbeingmanagedindividually,eachphysicalswitchinthefabricismanaged asifitwereaportmoduleinachassis. Thisenablesfabricscalabilitywithoutmanualconfiguration.

BrocadeVCStechnologyeliminatestheneedforseparateaggregationswitchesbecausethefabricis“self-aggregating.”Thisapproachenablesflatternetworkarchitecture,dramaticallyreducingcostandmanagementcomplexity.OrganizationscanleverageBrocadeVCStechnologytoreducethenumberofnetworktiers,simplifyingtheirdesignswhilereducingcapitalandoperatingexpenses.Thisfurtheroptimizesthenetworkinthevirtualizeddatacenter,enablingacloudcomputingmodel.

Dynamic Services FutureDynamicServiceswillextendthecapabilitiesofBrocadeVCStechnologyformaximuminvestmentprotectionandtheincrementaladditionofnewnetworkservices.Examplesoftheseservicesincludefabricextensionoverdistance,nativeFibreChannelconnectivity,Layer4-7servicessuchasBrocadeApplicationResourceBroker,andenhancedsecurityservicessuchasfirewallsanddataencryption.SwitcheswiththeseuniquecapabilitiescanjointheEthernetfabric,addinganetworkservicelayerthatisavailableacrosstheentirefabric.

COMPREHENSIVE LAYER 2 LAN CAPABILITIES AlongwiththeBrocadeVCSfabrictechnology,theBrocadeVDX6720includesarichsetoftraditionalLayer2Ethernetprotocolsandfeatures.Whencommunicatingtotherestofthenetwork,itusesprotocolssuchasLinkAggregationControlProtocol(LACP)and802.1Q.

TheBrocadeVDX6720isalsoreadyforIPv4/IPv6Layer3routingcapabilitiesthatcanbeimplementedinafutureBrocadeNetworkOSrelease.

BROCADE GLOBAL SERVICES BrocadeGlobalServiceshastheexpertisetohelporganizationsbuildscalable,efficientcloudinfrastructures.Utilizingbestpracticesanddeeptechnicalexpertiseinstorage,networking,andvirtualization,BrocadeProfessionalServicescanassessanddesignaresilientinfrastructure,andimplementanext-generationsolutionforvirtualizeddatacenters.WithPremierSupportandresidencies,organizationsreceivepersonal,preferential,andproactivesupporttoaccelerateproblemresolutionandescalationmanagement.

MAXIMIZING INVESTMENTS Tohelpoptimizetechnologyinvestments,Brocadeanditspartnersoffercompletesolutionsthatincludeeducation,support,andservices.Formoreinformation, contactaBrocadesalespartneror visitwww.brocade.com.

Brocade VDX 6720-24 Brocade VDX 6720-60Switchingbandwidth(datarate,fullduplex) 480Gbps 1200GbpsForwardingbandwidth(datarate,fullduplex) 358Mpps 896MppsPort-to-portlatency 600ns 600nswithin10-portgroupFormfactor 1U 2UDimensionsandweight Width:42.88cm(16.88in)

Height:4.32cm(1.70in)

Depth:38.10cm(15.00in)

Weight:7.30kg(16.10lbs)

Width:42.88cm(16.88in)

Height:8.89cm(3.50in)

Depth:43.18cm(17.00in)

Weight:15.88kg(35.00lbs)1/10GigabitEthernetSFP+ports 24 60PortsonDemandincrements 16,24 40,50,60Powersupplies Twohot-swappable,load-sharing Twohot-swappable,load-sharingCoolingfans N+1redundant,integratedintopowersupplies N+1redundant,threehot-swappablefanunits

BROCADE VDX 6720 FEATURE OVERVIEW

System architectureConnectoroptions 10GbpsSFP+options:1/3/5mdirect-attachedcopper(Twinax),10/20mactiveoptical,SR,LR

1GbpsSFPoptions:TX

Out-of-bandEthernetmanagement:RJ-45(fixed)

Out-of-bandremotelightsoutmanagement:RJ-45(fixed)

Consolemanagement:RJ-45toRS-232(fixed)

Firmwareanddiagnostic:USBMaximumMediaAccessControl(MAC)addresses 32,000MaximumVLANs 4096MaximumSTP(SpanningTreeinstances) 16Maximummulticastgroups 256Linkaggregation Maximumportspergroup:16

Maximumgroups:64ISLTrunking Maximumportspertrunk:8Maximumjumboframesize 9600bytesQueuesperport 8DCBPriorityFlowControl(PFC)classes 8

BROCADE VDX 6720 SPECIFICATIONS

System architecture (continued)Operatingsystem BrocadeNetworkOSLayer2switchingfeatures • MACLearningandAging

• StaticMACConfiguration• LinkAggregationControlProtocol(LACP)802.3ad/802.1AX

• VirtualLocalAreaNetworks(VLANs)• VLANEncapsulation802.1Q• RapidSpanningTreeProtocol(RSTP)802.1D• MultipleSpanningTreeProtocol(MSTP)802.1s• Per-VLANSpanningTree(PVST+/PVRST+)

• STPPortFastandPortFastBDPUGuard• STPRootGuard• Layer2AccessControlLists(ACLs)• AddressResolutionProtocol(ARP)RFC826• IGMPv1/v2Snooping• PauseFrames802.3x

BrocadeVCSfeatures • AutomaticFabricFormation• DistributedFabricServices• TransparentLANServices• VirtualLinkAggregationGroup(vLAG)

• TransparentInterconnectionofLotsof Links(TRILL)

• EqualCostMulti-Path(ECMP)• FibreChanneloverEthernet(FCoE)• AutomaticMigrationofPortProfiles(AMPP)

DCBfeatures • Priority-basedFlowControl(PFC)802.1Qbb• EnhancedTransmissionSelection(ETS)802.1Qaz

• DataCenterBridgingeXchange(DCBX)• DCBXApplicationType-Length-Value(TLV)forFCoEandiSCSI

FCoEfeatures • MultihopFibreChanneloverEthernet(FCoE);requiresBrocadeVCStechnology

• FC-BB5compliantFibreChannel Forwarder(FCF)

• NativeFCoEforwarding

• End-to-endFCoE(initiatortotarget)• FCoEInitializationProtocol(FIP)v1supportforFCoEdevicesloginandinitialization

QualityofService(QoS) • EightprioritylevelsforQoS• ClassofService(CoS)802.1p

• Per-portQoSconfiguration• Scheduling:StrictPriority(SP),ShapedDeficitWeightedRound-Robin(SDWRR)

ManagementManagementandcontrol • IPv4/IPv6management

• Industry-standardCommandLineInterface(CLI)• Remotelightsoutmanagement(futureupdate)• In-bandmanagement• LinkLayerDiscoveryProtocol(LLDP)802.1AB

• SwitchedPortAnalyzer(SPAN)• Telnet• SNMPv1/v2• sFlowRFC3176

Security • Port-basedNetworkAccessControl802.1X• RADIUS• TACACS+• SecureShell(SSHv2)

MechanicalEnclosure Front-to-rear,rear-to-frontairflow;1U,19-inchEIA-compliant;powerfromnon-portsideEnvironmentalTemperature Operating:0°Cto40°C(32°Fto104°F)

Non-operatingandstorage:-25°Cto70°C(-13°Fto158°F)Humidity Operating:10%to85%non-condensing

Non-operatingandstorage:10%to90%non-condensingAltitude Operating:Upto3000meters(9842feet)

Non-operatingandstorage:Upto12kilometers(39,370feet)Shock Operating:20g,6mshalf-sine

Non-operatingandstorage:Half-sine,33g11ms,3/egAxisVibration Operating:0.5gsine,0.4grmsrandom,5to500Hz

Non-operatingandstorage:2.0gsine,1.1grmsrandom,5to500HzPowerPowersupplies Twointernal,redundant,field-replaceable,load-sharingACpowersuppliesPowerinlet C13Inputvoltage 85to256VACnominalInputlinefrequency 47to63HzInrushcurrent 50ampsmaxMaximumcurrent 4ampsmax(24-portswitch);7ampsmax(60-portswitch)Maximumpowerconsumption 146.2watts(24-portswitch);360.0watts(60-portswitch)

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