Specifications
Introduction to McDATA Multi-Protocol Products
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Introduction to McDATA
Multi-Protocol Products
The enterprise-level storage area network (SAN) of today is typically
complex and managed at the device layer. These problems result in
SANs that use storage assets inefficiently, and are complex, error
prone, expensive, and time-consuming to manage.
This chapter describes McDATA
®
products and SAN management
applications that provide Multi-Capable Storage Network Solutions
®
to enable enterprises to efficiently allocate storage devices to servers
on demand, while lowering the cost of storage asset ownership. These
solutions:
• Consolidate information technology (IT) resources, integrate
servers, interconnect remote data centers and branch offices
(SAN islands), expand existing Fibre Channel SANs, and
implement business continuity and disaster recovery (BC/DR)
methods.
• Create a robust, reliable, scalable, and cost-effective SAN that
provides enterprise-class connectivity and supports Fibre
Channel Protocol (FCP) and fibre connection (FICON
®
)
environments.
• Simplify and automate SAN management by creating an
application-oriented, on-demand data network.
These solutions, coupled with McDATA’s technical vision, result in
greater application availability and SAN performance, thus enabling
enterprises to meet their business objectives. Refer to Chapter 4,
Implementing SAN Internetworking Solutions for detailed information.