Brocade DCX 8510-4 Backbone
Four Horizontal Blade Slots to Provide up to 192 16Gbps Fibre Channel Ports

Features:

Maximum Flexibility and Reliability

Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones are available in two modular form factors. Built for large enterprise networks, the 14U Brocade DCX 8510-8 has eight vertical blade slots to provide up to 384 16 Gbps Fibre Channel ports. Built for midsize networks, the 8U Brocade DCX 8510-4 has four horizontal blade slots to provide up to 192 16 Gbps Fibre Channel ports. The Brocade DCX 8510 family supports 2, 4, 8, 10, and 16 Gbps Fibre Channel, FICON, and 1/10 Gbps Fibre Channel over IP (FCIP).

To help minimize downtime costs, Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones build upon years of innovation and leverage the core technology of Brocade systems performing at greater than 99.999 percent uptime in the world's most demanding data centers.

Simplified Scale-Out Network Design

Networks are evolving in order to adapt to rapid growth and change in the server and storage infrastructure. New optical Inter-Chassis Links (ICLs) can connect up to 10 Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones, enabling flatter, faster, and simpler fabrics that increase consolidation while reducing network complexity and costs.

ICLs enable scalable core-edge and active-active mesh chassis topologies. These high-density chassis topologies reduce inter-switch cabling by 75 percent and free up to 33 percent of ports for server and storage. This maximizes overall port density in the lowest amount of rack space.

Optimized Data Center Connectivity Over Distance

Connecting distributed data centers enables data mobility for advanced data protection solutions. Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones include integrated metro and global SAN extension that provides application agility and flexible business continuity and disaster recovery solutions.

The Brocade DCX 8510 family enables high-speed replication and backup solutions over metro or WAN links with native Fibre Channel (10/16 Gbps) and optional FCIP (1/10 GbE) extension support. The integrated metro connectivity includes in-flight compression and encryption to optimize bandwidth and minimize the risk of unauthorized access.

Simplified Deployment and Centralized Management

Automating and simplifying SAN management enables data centers to quickly adapt to change and overcome disruptions in a private cloud infrastructure. Brocade DCX 8510 advanced diagnostics, monitoring, and management reduce end-to-end SAN management complexities and costs.

The Brocade DCX 8510 helps reduce operating costs through simpler server provisioning and change management, advanced cable and optics diagnostics, and comprehensive management. Several technologies support these capabilities, including:

• Dynamic Fabric Provisioning: Combines Brocade backbone and adapter technology to reduce or eliminate the need to reconfigure zoning and Logical Unit Number (LUN) masking when adding or replacing servers
• Diagnostic Ports (D_Ports): Help identify and isolate optics and cable problems, reducing fabric deployment and diagnostic times
• Brocade Network Advisor: Provides comprehensive management of data center fabrics, including configuration, monitoring, and management of Brocade backbones, switches, and adapters

Industry-Leading Performance

Emerging and evolving critical workloads and higher density virtualization are continuing to push the limits of SAN infrastructure. The Brocade DCX 8510 features industry-leading 16 Gbps performance and 8.2 Tbps chassis bandwidth to address next-generation I/O- and bandwidth-intensive applications.

Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones provide unmatched chassis, slot-to-slot, and port performance and bandwidth. In addition, local switching capabilities ensure that data traffic within the same port group does not consume slot bandwidth, maximizing the number of line-rate ports. Performance capabilities include:

Enterprise-Class Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability

The Brocade DCX 8510 features advanced monitoring, diagnostics, and RAS capabilities to maximize availability, optimize performance, and simplify administration. These enterprise-class features include:

• Critical diagnostic and monitoring capabilities to help ensure early problem detection and recovery
• Non-intrusive and non-disruptive monitoring on every port to provide a comprehensive end-to-end view of the entire fabric
• Forward Error Correction (FEC) to recover from bit errors in ISLs, enhancing transmission reliability and performance
• Additional buffers to overcome performance degradation and congestion due to buffer credit loss
• Real-time bandwidth consumption by hosts/applications on ISLs to easily identify hot spots and potential network congestion

Brocade Global Services

Brocade Global Services has the expertise to help organizations build scalable, efficient cloud infrastructures. Leveraging 15 years of expertise in storage, networking, and virtualization, Brocade Global Services delivers world-class professional services, technical support, and education services, enabling organizations to maximize their Brocade investments, accelerate new technology deployments, and optimize the performance of networking infrastructures.

Specifications:

DCX 8510-4 Backbone Specifications
Systems Architecture
Chassis	Single chassis: Up to 384 (Brocade DCX 8510-8) or 192 (Brocade DCX 8510-4) 16 Gbps universal (E, F, D, M, and EX) Fibre Channel ports using 48-port 16 Gbps Fibre Channel blades. Up to 512 (Brocade DCX 8510-8) or 256 (Brocade DCX 8510-4) 8 Gbps universal (E, F, D, M, and EX) Fibre Channel ports using 64-port 8 Gbps Fibre Channel blades. Multi-chassis with ICL ports: Up to 3456 16 Gbps universal Fibre Channel ports (using 16 Gbps 48-port blades); up to 4608 8 Gbps universal Fibre Channel ports (using 8 Gbps 64-port blades); ICL ports (32 or 16 per chassis, optical QSFP) connect up to nine chassis in a full mesh topology or up to 10 chassis in a core-edge topology. Connecting five or more chassis via ICLs requires an Enterprise ICL license.
Control processor	Redundant (active/standby) control processor modules
Scalability	Full fabric architecture of 239 switches
Certified maximum	6000 active nodes; 56 switches, 19 hops in Brocade Fabric OS® fabrics; 31 switches, three hops in Brocade M-EOS fabrics; larger fabrics certified as required
Special-purpose blades	Brocade FS8-18 Encryption Blade provides plug-in encryption of data on disk or tape, supporting industry-standard AES-256 and DataFort-compatible encryption mode (16 8 Gbps Fibre Channel ports; up to four blades; requires Brocade Network Advisor). Brocade FX8-24 Extension Blade provides SAN extension over IP networks (12 8 Gbps Fibre Channel ports, 10 1 GbE ports with license option for up to two 10 GbE ports per blade; up to four blades).
Performance	Fibre Channel: 2.125 Gbps line speed, full duplex; 4.25 Gbps line speed, full duplex; 8.5 Gbps line speed, full duplex; 10.53 Gbps line speed, full duplex; 14.025 Gbps line speed, full duplex; auto-sensing of 2, 4, 8, and 16 Gbps port speeds; 10 Gbps and optionally programmable to fixed port speed
ISL trunking	Frame-based trunking with up to eight 16 Gbps ports per ISL trunk; up to 128 Gbps per ISL trunk Exchange-based load balancing across ISLs with DPS included in Brocade Fabric OS
Chassis bandwidth	Brocade DCX 8510-4: 4.1 Tbps per chassis (192 ports X 16 Gbps data rate + 1.024 Tbps ICL bandwidth)
Slot bandwidth	512 Gbps (data rate)
Local switching bandwidth	512 Gbps for Brocade FC16-32: 32 ports X 16 Gbps (data rate) 768 Gbps for Brocade FC16-48: 48 ports X 16 Gbps (data rate) 256 Gbps for Brocade FC8-32E: 32 ports X 8 Gbps (data rate) 384 Gbps for Brocade FC8-48E: 48 ports X 8 Gbps (data rate) 512 Gbps for Brocade FC8-64: 64 ports X 8 Gbps (data rate)
ICL bandwidth	1.024 Tbps; 16 ICLs provide the equivalent of 64 16 Gbps ports. Each ICL port provides 64 Gbps bandwidth over a QSFP (4X16 Gbps) link. Frame-based trunking is enabled between four ICLs. DPS distributes exchanges across all frame trunks.
Switch latency	Locally switched port latency is 700 ns; blade-to-blade latency is 2.1 μsec; encryption/compression is 5.5 μsec per node; Forward Error Correction (FEC) adds 400 ns between E_Ports (enabled by default).
Maximum frame size	2112-byte payload
Frame buffers	8192 per 16-port group on 32-port blades and up to 8192 per 24-port group on 48-port blades, dynamically allocated
Classes of service	Class 2, Class 3, Class F (inter-switch frames)
Fibre Channel port types	D_Port (Diagnostic Port), E_Port, EX_Port, F_Port, M_Port (Mirror Port); self-discovery based on switch type (U_Port); optional port type control
Data traffic types	Fabric switches supporting unicast
Media types	16 Gbps: Brocade FC16-32 and -48 require Brocade hot-pluggable SFP+, LC connector; 16 Gbps SWL, LWL 10 Gbps: Brocade FC16-32 and -48 require Brocade hot-pluggable SFP+, LC connector; 10 Gbps SWL, LWL 8 Gbps: Brocade FC16-32 and -48; Brocade FC8-32E and -48E; Brocade FX8-24; and Brocade FS8-18 blades require Brocade hot-pluggable SFP+, LC connector; 8 Gbps SWL, LWL, ELWL 8 Gbps: Brocade FC8-64 blades require Brocade hot-pluggable mSFP, mSFP LC connector; 8 Gbps SWL only ICL QSFP: Brocade CR16-8 and CR16-4 require Brocade hot-pluggable QSFP, MTP connector; 4X16 Gbps SWL Fibre Channeldistance subject to fiber-optic cable and port speed
USB	1 USB port per control processor for firmware download, support save, and configuration upload/download
Fabric services	Brocade Advanced Performance Monitoring (APM) (including Top Talkers for E_Ports, F_Ports, and Fabric mode); Brocade Adaptive Networking (Ingress Rate Limiting, Traffic Isolation, QoS); Bottleneck Detection; Brocade Advanced Zoning (default zoning, port/WWN zoning, broadcast zoning); Dynamic Fabric Provisioning (DFP); Dynamic Path Selection (DPS); Brocade Extended Fabrics; Enhanced BB credit recovery; Brocade Fabric Watch; FDMI; Frame Redirection; Frame-based Trunking; FSPF; Integrated Routing; IPoFC; Brocade ISL Trunking; Management Server; NPIV; NTP v3; Port Fencing; Registered State Change Notification (RSCN); Reliable Commit Service (RCS); Brocade Server Application Optimization (SAO); Simple Name Server (SNS); Virtual Fabrics (Logical Switch, Logical Fabric)
Extension	Supports DWDM, CWDM, and FC-SONET devices; Fibre Channel, in-flight compression (Brocade LZO) and encryption (AES-GCM-256) BB credit recovery; FCIP, Adaptive Rate Limiting (ARL), data compression, Fast Write, read/write Tape Pipelining, QoS
FICON	FICON cascading (Brocade Fabric OS: Brocade DCX 8510-8, DCX 8510-4); support for lossless DLS; FICON CUP; Advanced Accelerator for FICON (FICON Global Mirror and XRC emulation and read/write Tape Pipelining). The Brocade FC8-64 blade does not support FICON.
High Availability
Architecture	Passive backplane; redundant active/passive control processor; redundant active/active core switching blades; redundant WWN cards
Chassis power	Two 2000 W AC power supply modules (100 to 240 V auto-sensing), 2N redundancy
Cooling	Two blower assembly modules (one required for operation)
Solution availability	Designed to provide 99.999 percent uptime capabilities; hot-pluggable redundant power supplies, fans, WWN cards, processors, core switching, port blades, and optics; online diagnostics; non-disruptive firmware download and activation
Management
Management	HTTP, SNMP v1/v3 (FE MIB, FC Management MIB), SSH; Auditing, Syslog; Brocade Advanced Web Tools, Brocade APM, Brocade Fabric Watch; Brocade Network Advisor SAN Enterprise (Brocade DCX 8510-8, Brocade DCX 8510-4) or Brocade Network Advisor SAN Professional/Professional Plus (Brocade DCX 8510-4 only); Command Line Interface (CLI); SMI-S compliant; Administrative Domains; trial licenses for add-on capabilities
Security	AES-GCM-256 encryption on ISLs; DH-CHAP (between switches and end devices), FCAP switch authentication; FIPS 140-2 L2-compliant, HTTPS, IPsec, IP filtering, LDAP with IPv6, Port Binding, RADIUS, User-defined Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), Secure Copy (SCP), Secure RPC, SFTP, SSH v2, SSL, Switch Binding, Trusted Switch
Management access	10/100/1000 Ethernet (RJ-45) per control processor, in-band over Fibre Channel; serial port (RJ-45) and one USB per control processor module; call-home integration enabled through Brocade Network Advisor
Diagnostics	D_Port offline diagnostics, including electrical/optical loopback, link traffic/latency/distance; POST and embedded online/offline diagnostics, including environmental monitoring, FCping and Pathinfo (FC traceroute), frame viewer, non-disruptive daemon restart, port mirroring, optics health monitoring, power monitoring (16 Gbps blades-only), RAStrace logging, and Rolling Reboot Detection (RRD)
Mechanical
Enclosure	Rear panel-to-door airflow; Brocade DCX 8510-4 ships with 1U exhaust shelf
Mounting	Rack-mountable in a standard 19-inch EIA cabinet
Size	Width: 43.74 cm (17.22 in.) Height: 35.00 cm (13.78 in., 8U) plus 4.37 cm Exhaust shelf (1.72 in, 1U) Depth without door: 61.19 cm (24.09 in.) Depth with door: 73.20 cm (28.82 in.)
System weight	68.04 kg (150.00 lb) for 192-port configuration fully populated 25.76 kg (56.80 lb) for chassis
Environment
Temperature	Operating: 0°C to 40°C (32°F to 104°F) Non-operating: –25°C to 70°C (–13°F to 158°F)
Humidity	Operating: 20% to 85% RH non-condensing at 40°C (104°F) Non-operating and storage (non-condensing): 10% to 93% at 70°C (158°F)
Altitude	Up to 3000 meters (9842 feet)
Shock	Operating: 20 g, 6 ms, half sine Non-operating: 33 g, 11 ms, half sine
Vibration	Operating: 0.5 g p-p, 5 to 500 Hz Non-operating: 2.0 g p-p, 5 to 500 Hz
Heat dissipation	Min: 32-port configuration, 713 W, 2433 BTU/hr Max: 192-port configuration (fully loaded with QSFPs), 1347 W, 4592 BTU/hr
CO2 emissions	4.3 metric tonnes per year (with 256 ports at 0.42 kg/kWh) 1.04 kg per Gbps per year
Power
Supported power range	Voltage Range: 85 to 264 VAC Auto-volt Nominal: 100 to 240 VAC Power 85 to 132 VAC: 1000 W 180 to 264 VAC: 2000 W
In-rush current	20 Amps maximum, peak
Frequency	47 to 63 Hz (Nominal: 50 to 60 Hz)

Frequently Asked Questions:

This document answers frequently asked questions about the Brocade DCX 8510 Backbone family.

What are Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones?

Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones are the industry's most powerful Fibre Channel switching infrastructure, providing the most reliable, scalable, high-performance foundation for private cloud storage and highly virtualized environments. They are designed to increase business agility while providing non-stop access to information and reducing infrastructure and administrative costs. The backbone family includes the eight-slot Brocade DCX 8510-8 and four-slot Brocade DCX 8510-4.

The Brocade DCX 8510 Backbone family:

• Unleashes the full potential of private cloud storage with unmatched scalability, performance, and reliability
• Enables simpler, flatter, low-latency chassis connectivity to reduce network complexity, management, and costs
• Optimizes data center connectivity over distance with integrated high-performance metro and global connectivity
• Simplifies and centralizes end-to-end Storage Area Network (SAN) management with comprehensive diagnostics, monitoring, and automation
• Maximizes performance for I/O- and bandwidth-intensive applications
• Protects investments in existing SAN fabrics and automation tools while reducing operational costs and minimizing business disruption

What distinguishes Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones from other Brocade DCX Backbones?

Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones were designed to unleash the full potential of private cloud storage and virtualization. With unmatched scalability, 16 Gbps performance, reliability, and functionality, the Brocade DCX 8510 is the strategic platform for transforming current SAN fabrics into cloud-optimized SANs.

Brocade DCX Backbones are the most advanced 8 Gbps switching platforms in the industry. Customers can continue to purchase Brocade DCX Backbones knowing that their investments today will support them in the future as they transition to 16 Gbps.

See the table below for a detailed comparison of these backbones.

	Brocade DCX 8510-8	Brocade DCX	Brocade DCX 8510-4	Brocade DCX-4S
Total Bandwidth Including ICLs	8.2 Tbps	4.6 Tbps	2.3 Tbps	1.5 Tbps
Maximum Total Ports	384 at 16 Gbps 512 at 8 Gbps	512 at 8 Gbps	192 at 16 Gbps 256 at 8 Gbps	256 at 8 Gbps
Slot Bandwidth	512 Gbps	256 Gbps	512 Gbps	256 Gbps
Maximum Chassis Connected via ICLs	10 core-edge 9 active-active mesh	3 active-active mesh	6 core-edge 5 active-active mesh	3 active-active mesh
Total ICL Ports	32 at 64 Gbps	4 at 128 Gbps	16 at 64 Gbps	4 at 64 Gbps
ICL Bandwidth	2 Tbps	512 Gbps	1 Tbps	512 Gbps
ICL Cables	50 m optical	2 m copper	50 m optical	2 m copper
Energy Efficiency	0.3 watts/Gbps	0.3 watts/Gbps	0.3 watts/Gbps	0.4 watts/Gbps
Diagnostic Ports	Yes	No	Yes	No
In-Flight Encryption and Compression	Yes	No	Yes	No
10 Gbps Native Fibre Channel	Yes	No	Yes	No
Forward Error Correction (FEC)	Yes	No	Yes	No
ASIC-Enabled Buffer Credit Loss Detection and Automatic Recovery at Virtual Channel Level	Yes	No	Yes	No
Concurrent Support for Top Talkers and Fibre Channel Routing	Yes	No	Yes	No
E-Port Top Talkers	Yes	No	Yes	No

What comprises a private cloud-based architecture?

Cloud architectures enable organizations to efficiently pool, automate, and allocate their IT resources, accelerating their ability to meet business needs while realizing CapEx and OpEx savings. A private cloud resides within an organization's own data center facility. This is in contrast to public cloud infrastructures provided by companies such as Amazon and Google.

What is private cloud storage?

Private cloud storage is a network infrastructure that supports the high-performance demands of server virtualization and provides key capabilities such as increased Virtual Machine (VM) mobility. This type of network is highly available and resilient, and it should enable usage-based tracking, chargeback, and other capabilities to maximize the benefits of virtualized environments.

How do I transition my data center to private cloud storage?

Private cloud architectures create unique requirements that today's hierarchical data center networks are simply not designed to support. They require simpler, flatter, and more flexible data center fabrics that deliver higher performance, scalability, and resiliency. Brocade 16 Gbps Fibre Channel solutions are an ideal technology for transitioning smoothly to highly virtualized environments. They deliver unmatched I/O performance, flexible I/O connectivity, and low latency while enabling scale-out network designs and simplified management of virtualized resources. The result is a more flexible data center fabric that supports dramatically higher workloads.

Is Fibre Channel still the best infrastructure for data center storage?

Networks need to evolve in order to support the growing demands of highly virtualized environments and private cloud architectures. Today, Fibre Channel is the de facto standard for storage networking in the data center. The introduction of 16 Gbps Fibre Channel extends the life of this robust, reliable, and high-performance technology. This enables organizations to continue leveraging their existing IT investments as they solve their most difficult business challenges.

What is the future of Fibre Channel technology in the data center?

Fibre Channel will continue to play a vital role in the data center of the future. Its robust capabilities make it the technology of choice today, and organizations around the world have shown their confidence by investing over $50 billion in Fibre Channel infrastructure. These organizations must be able to leverage those investments for the long term as they face new business demands. As the leader in Fibre Channel solutions, Brocade continues to invest heavily in R&D, along with its broad ecosystem of industry partners.

Is Fibre Channel better than Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), iSCSI, or NAS for storage networks and clouds?

All of these technologies have value for specific use cases. But when it comes to the elevated demands of virtualization and cloud-based architectures, only Fibre Channel is the proven and trusted networking technology that meets the stringent requirements for zero-data loss and flow control with enterprise-class, mission-critical storage applications. Robust Fibre Channel infrastructures are specifically built for the reliabilityand performance that data centers demand.

What value does 16 Gbps port speed provide when I currently have sufficient bandwidth at 4/8 Gbps?

High-performance, highly reliable 16 Gbps Fibre Channel solutions provide the ideal networking infrastructure to accommodate the growing workloads and transformational changes in storage environments. No other technology is currently capable of supporting the highly demanding requirements associated with growing virtualized and private cloud infrastructures.

Emerging and evolving critical workloads and higher-density virtualization are continuing to push the limits of SAN infrastructure. This trend is driving ever-higher I/O and bandwidth requirements, shortening the time horizon when speeds beyond 8 Gbps are needed. The Brocade DCX 8510 features industry-leading 16 Gbps performance, 420 million frames-per-second switching, and 8.2 Tbps chassis bandwidth to address these next-generation I/O- and bandwidth-intensive applications.

In addition, 16 Gbps platforms and Brocade Fabric OS® (FOS) 7.0 introduce new functionality—such as Dynamic Fabric Provisioning (DFP), D_Ports, as well as in-flight compression and encryption—to reduce operational costs and complexity, and improve the reliability and availability of a fabric.

What Brocade Global Services offerings are available for Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones?

Brocade offers assessment, design, implementation, and Brocade Resident Consultant services as well as Brocade Technical Support for the Brocade DCX 8510 Backbone.

What differentiates second-generation Inter-Chassis Links (ICLs) for the Brocade DCX 8510?

Second-generation ICL technology includes new optical ports, higher port density, and support for standard optical cables up to 50 meters. ICLs can connect up to 10 Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones, enabling flatter, faster, and simpler fabrics that increase consolidation while reducing network complexity and costs.

ICLs enable connections of up to 10 chassis in a core-edge, and up to nine chassis in an active-active mesh topology. These high-density chassis topologies reduce inter-switch cabling by 75 percent and free up to 33 percent of ports for server and storage. This maximizes overall port density in the lowest amount of rack space.

ICL Ports on Demand are licensed in increments of 16 ICL ports. Connecting five or more chassis via ICLs requires an Enterprise ICL license.

What is the throughput of the ICL connections? What happens if an ICL connection fails?

Each ICL port provides 64 Gbps of bandwidth over a QSFP (4X16 Gbps) link. A minimum of four ports (two from each core switching blade) are required to connect chassis together.

The Brocade DCX 8510-8 has a total of 32 ICL ports (16 per CR16-8 core switching blade) that deliver 2.1 Tbps of bandwidth. This is equivalent to 128 16 Gbps ISLs. The Brocade DCX 8510-4 has a total of 16 ICL ports (eight per CR16-4 core switching blade) that deliver 1 Tbps of bandwidth. This is equivalent to 64 16 Gbps ISLs.

Frame-based trunking (if licensed) is enabled between up to four ICLs. Brocade Dynamic Path Selection (DPS) balances exchanges across all ICL connections using a hash of the SID, DID, RxPort, and OxID. If an ICL connection fails, all traffic will travel over remaining active links.

Can ICLs be used to connect any backbone chassis? Can I connect more than two backbone chassis?

Second-generation ICLs can be used to connect up to 10 Brocade DCX 8510 chassis in a core-edge topology, or up to nine chassis in an active-active mesh topology. Conventional Inter-Switch Links (ISLs) can be used to connect to existing 8 Gbps backbones, directors, and switches.

Can ICLs and ISLs be used together to connect chassis?

Simultaneous ICL and ISL connectivity between two Brocade DCX 8510 chassis is not supported.

What kinds of cables are used with the ICLs?

Brocade DCX 8510 ICL cables connect ICL ports over optical cables in the following manner:

• Brocade DCX 8510 4X16 GFC QSFPs require MTP 1X12 ribbon cable connectors and multimode ribbon fiber cable, limited to 50 meters (m).
• Although the connector has 12 lanes in a row, the 4X16 GFC QSFP uses only the outer eight lanes—four from each end. The central four lanes are unused.
• Plug orientation does not matter because the plug is polarized—it takes care of itself like RJ-45.
• Cables are available from:

Vendor	5 m (part number)	15 m (part number)	50 m (part number)
Molex	106283-1005	106283-1015	106283-1050
Wave2Wave	50-4120P-5M	50-4120P-15M	50-4120P-50M

For more information, visit www.molex.com, http://www.wave-2-wave.com/.

How do seventh-generation switching ASICs compare to previous generations?

The Condor3 ASIC is the industry's most powerful and efficient switching technology. In addition to 16 Gbps speed, it includes more bandwidth (768 Gbps), faster I/O performance (420 million frames switched per second), more functionality (including D_port, in-flight encryption and compression, and Forward Error Correction (FEC)), and higher energy efficiency (less than 1 watt/Gbps).

What are integrated metro and geo connectivity?

Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones support integrated SAN extension over native Fibre Channel (metro connections up to 100 km) or over Fibre Channel over IP (FCIP) (geo connections beyond 100 km). Native Fibre Channel connections now include in-flight compression and encryption as well as optional support for 10 Gbps Fibre Channel over DWDM and dark fiber. The optional Brocade FX8-24 Extension Blade supports SAN extension over 1/10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) FCIP links.

What are the benefits of in-flight compression over ISLs?

In-flight compression optimizes network performance within the data center and over long-distance links. Data is compressed at the source and uncompressed at the destination. Performance varies by data type, but Brocade uses an efficient algorithm to generally achieve 2:1 compression with minimal impact on performance. Compression can be used in conjunction with in-flight encryption. In-flight compression is only available on 16 Gbps port blades.

What are the benefits of in-flight encryption over ISLs?

In-flight encryption minimizes the risk of unauthorized access for traffic within the data center and over long-distance links. It's switch-to-switch encryption, not device or data-atrest encryption. Data is encrypted at the source and decrypted at the destination. Encryption and decryption is performed in hardware using the AES-GCM-256 algorithm, minimizing any impact on performance. Encryption can be used in conjunction with inflight compression. In-flight encryption is only available on 16 Gbps port blades and is complementary to data-at-rest encryption provided by the Brocade FS8-18 Encryption Blade.

How can Dynamic Fabric Provisioning simplify server deployment?

Dynamic Fabric Provisioning (DFP) allows organizations to eliminate fabric reconfiguration when adding or replacing servers through the virtualization of host World Wide Names (WWNs). It combines Brocade switch and adapter technology to reduce or eliminate the need to modify zoning or Logical Unit Number (LUN) masking. In addition, DFP enables pre-provisioning of virtual WWNs, helping organizations eliminate timeconsuming steps when deploying new equipment or moving devices within a switch.

What are Diagnostic Ports (D_Ports)?

Diagnostic Ports (D_Ports) are a new port type that enables administrators to quickly identify and isolate optics and cable problems, reducing fabric deployment and diagnostic times. Organizations also can use D_Ports to run a variety of tests through Brocade Network Advisor or Command Line Interface (CLI) to test ports, SFPs, and cables for faults, latency, and distance. This requires Condor3 ports and Brocade-branded 10 Gbps or 16 Gbps SFPs.

What other enhancements and diagnostic features are included in Brocade FOS 7.0?

Brocade FOS 7.0 includes: additional RASlogs messages for optics failures; Frame Viewer for Class 3 discards; Forward Error Correction (FEC) on ISLs; additional Audit Log support for Brocade Fabric Watch events; user-defined Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and other security enhancements; the addition of E_Ports to Top Talkers; and port fencing due to CRC errors, transmission errors, and invalid Traffic Isolation Zones.

What power management features are included?

Brocade DCX 8510 port blades and the Brocade 6510 Switch support real-time power measurement, providing insight on power consumption in the fabric.

Can an existing 8 Gbps Brocade DCX or Brocade DCX-4S be upgraded to 16 Gbps functionality?

Yes. Brocade FOS 7.0 supports a simple upgrade to 16 Gbps functionality by replacing the 8 Gbps core switching blades with new 16 Gbps CR16-8 (for Brocade DCX 8510-8 functionality) or CR16-4 (for Brocade DCX 8510-4 functionality) and adding 32- or 48- port 16 Gbps port blades.

What 8 Gbps Brocade DCX blades are compatible with Brocade DCX 8510 chassis?

The Brocade FC8-32E, FC8-48E, FC8-64, FS8-18, and FX8-24 are the only 8 Gbps blades supported on the Brocade DCX 8510.

What are the differences between the Brocade FC8-32E and FC8-48E enhanced 8 Gbps blades and Brocade FC16-32 and FC16-48 16 Gbps blades?

The Brocade FC8-32E and FC8-48E are enhanced 8 Gbps blades that deliver enhanced fabric resiliency and application uptime through advanced features enabled by the Condor3 ASIC, including increased buffers and no oversubscription for traffic across the backplane. These blades do no support native 10 Gbps Fibre Channel, in-flight encryption and compression, or diagnostic ports. These features are only available on Brocade FC16-32 and FC16-48 16 Gbps blades.

Can Brocade FC8-32E and FC8-48E blades be upgraded to 16 Gbps blades?

No. Brocade FC8-32E and FC8-48E blades are not upgradable to 16 Gbps functionality.

What blades can be shared between the Brocade DCX 8510 and Brocade DCX Backbones?

The following table lists the blade-sharing possibilities.

Brocade Blade	Brocade DCX 8510-8 Backbone	Brocade DCX 8510-4 Backbone	Brocade DCX Backbone	Brocade DCX-4S Backbone
FC16-32			N/A	N/A
FC16-48			N/A	N/A
FC8-32E			N/A	N/A
FC8-48E			N/A	N/A
FC8-16	N/A	N/A
FC8-32	N/A	N/A
FC8-48	N/A	N/A
FC8-64
FC10-6	N/A	N/A
FR4-18i	N/A	N/A
FCOE10-24	Future Release	Future Release
FS8-18
FX8-24
Brocade DCX Control Processor
CR16-8 Core Switching		N/A		N/A
CR16-4 Core Switching	N/A		N/A

How many Brocade FX8-24 Extension Blades or Brocade FS8-18 Encryption Blades can be utilized per backbone chassis?

Up to four Brocade FX8-24 or Brocade FS8-18 blades per chassis are currently supported in a single chassis.

What types of encryption are available?

There are generally two approaches to encryption: data-at-rest and data-in-flight. Data-atrest encryption encrypts the data so that it is stored on the destination storage media in an encrypted form. Data-in-flight encryption encrypts data as it travels between two points in a network. Data is encrypted as it leaves a source port and decrypted as it arrives at the destination port. Technologies that provide encryption for data-in-flight include IPSec and MACsec (802.1AE) for Ethernet, and FC-SP for Fibre Channel. Data-atrest and data-in-flight encryption are complementary technologies that serve different purposes, and each may be required in order to achieve regulatory compliance.

How can customers utilize FCoE and Data Center Bridging (DCB) with Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones?

The Brocade FCOE10-24 blade is currently supported on 8 Gbps Brocade DCX Backbones. The blade will be supported on the Brocade DCX 8510 in a future release.

How is chassis bandwidth calculated for Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones?

If all 384 (Brocade DCX 8510-8) or 192 (Brocade DCX 8510-4) ports are running at full 16 Gbps speed (data rate), and all traffic travels over the backplane (utilizing slot bandwidth), the total amount of oversubscription is 1.5:1 for either model. However, Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones have local switching—so ingress/egress traffic on the same blade does not consume slot bandwidth.

By utilizing a moderate amount of local switching, a Brocade DCX 8510 Backbone can ultimately yield 384/192 ports at full 16 Gbps speed without any oversubscription. ICL bandwidth adds an additional 2.1 Tbps (Brocade DCX 8510-8) and 1 Tbps (Brocade DCX 8510-4). The combination of port and ICL bandwidth yields the total chassis bandwidth of 8.2 Tbps (Brocade DCX 8510-8) or 4.1 Tbps (Brocade DCX 8510-4).

Are Brocade Small Form-Factor Pluggables (SFPs) required for the 16 Gbps switches?

Yes. Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones and the Brocade 6510 Switch require Brocadebranded SFPs.

Why do Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones require Brocade SFP optics?

This provides quality control that in turn avoids application downtime. The higher the port speed—especially 16 Gbps—the less tolerance that backbones and switches have for out-of-spec wavelengths that lead to port failure and application interruption

Are supported cable distances affected by 16 Gbps?

Yes. Supported distances are reduced as Fibre Channel speed increases (see the table below).

Link Distance with Speed and Fiber Type (meters)

Transceiver Type	Form Factor	Speed	Multi-Mode Max Distance				Single-Mode Max Distance
			OM1	OM2	OM3	OM4	9 μm
SWL	SFP+	16 Gbps	15 m	35 m	100 m	125 m	Not applicable
	SFP+	10 Gbps	33 m	82 m	300 m	550 m
	SFP+ and mSFP	8 Gbps	21 m	50 m	150 m	190 m
	QSFP	64 Gbps	Not applicable	50 m	50 m	50 m
LWL	SFP+	16 Gbps	Not applicable				10 km
	SFP+	10 Gbps					10 km
	SFP+	8 Gbps					10 km, 25 km

What cable management solutions are available for Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones?

Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones include horizontal (Brocade DCX 8510-8) and vertical (Brocade DCX 8510-4) cable combs for basic cable management. Brocade will be offering structured cable management solutions using patch panels for existing (1U LC patch panel) and high-density (1U MPO patch panel) solutions. Consult the Cable Management Best Practices Guide for part numbers.

Which components are common between the Brocade DCX 8510-8 and Brocade DCX 8510-4 models? Which are different?

Both the Brocade DCX 8510-8 and Brocade DCX 8510-4 models utilize the same 16 Gbps blades and SFPs (32-, 48-port; 16 Gbps SFP+), Brocade FS8-18 Encryption Blade, Brocade FX8-24 SAN Extension Blade (for FCIP), and Brocade FC8-64 (8 Gbps 64-port blade). They also use the same Control Processor (CP) blade, power supply FRU, fan FRU, and ICL cables and optics. Besides the chassis, the only components that differ between the Brocade DCX 8510-8 and Brocade DCX 8510-4 models are the core switching blades (CR16-8/CR16-4), and World-Wide Name (WWN) cards.

Will Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones work with existing firmware versions in current fabrics?

Brocade DCX 8510 models require Brocade FOS 7.0 or greater. Brocade DCX 8510 models are compatible with all 8 Gbps platforms and 4 Gbps platforms running Brocade FOS 6.2.2 or later for Layer 2 connectivity. All other legacy devices running prior versionsof Brocade FOS are only supported through Fibre Channel routing. For complete support information, please refer to the respective Brocade FOS release notes.

Can Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones be connected to legacy McDATA devices?

Connecting Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones to legacy McDATA devices is only supported through Fibre Channel routing.

The Brocade DCX 8510-8 model accommodates four power supplies. Why does it ship with two? Do both the Brocade DCX 8510-8 and Brocade DCX 8510-4 support 110 VAC power supplies?

Two 240 VAC power supplies come standard with the Brocade DCX 8510-8 model. Both are active/active, but if one fails, the other will provide power for the entire chassis. Two additional bays are available for higher (power) availability, or to meet increased power needs for particular blade options. The Brocade DCX 8510-8 also supports using 110 VAC power supplies in place of the two 240 VAC supplies, but with some restrictions.

The Brocade DCX 8510-4 has two power supply bays and ships with 240 VAC power supplies. Both are active/active, but if one fails, the other will provide power for the entire chassis. The 110 VAC power supplies can also be used to provide 1000 W redundant power, but with some restrictions.

What are the power supply requirements for the Brocade DCX 8510 based on blade configurations?

Please note the general requirements below:

• A fully populated Brocade DCX 8510-8 chassis with Brocade FC16-48 or FC8-48E blades requires four 2000 W power supplies.
• The maximum number of Brocade FC16-48 or FC8-48E blades supported with two power supplies is seven (eighth slot must be empty).
• A fully populated Brocade DCX 8510-8 chassis with Brocade FC16-32 or FC8-32E blades only requires two 2000 W power supplies.
• For specific port blade combinations, calculate the power draw based on the table in the Brocade DCX 8510 Hardware Reference Manual, Appendix A, "Power Specifications" section available on MyBrocade™.

What are the licensing differences between Brocade DCX 8510-8 and Brocade DCX 8510-4?

The Brocade DCX 8510 model ships standard with the Enterprise bundle (Brocade Adaptive Networking, Brocade Advanced Performance Monitoring, Brocade Extended Fabric, Brocade Fabric Watch, Brocade Server Application Optimization [SAO], and Brocade ISL Trunking), whereas the Brocade DCX 8510-4 can be ordered with or without the Enterprise bundle from Brocade and OEMs (varies by OEM). Licenses that comprise the Enterprise bundle can be ordered individually for the Brocade DCX 8510-4.

What optional software licenses are available for Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones?

Optional value-add licenses include: Integrated Routing, FICON® CUP, 10 Gbps License for FCIP (FX8-24) or integrated 10 Gbps Fibre Channel extension, ICL Ports on Demand, and Enterprise ICL.

What optional licenses are available for the Brocade FX8-24 Extension Blade?

The Advanced Extension license is required for FCIP Trunking and Adaptive Rate Limiting. An Advanced Accelerator for FICON license is required for Global Mirror emulation and tape pipelining. A 10 GbE port upgrade license enables the two optional 10 GbE ports and up to 20 Gbps FCIP bandwidth. An Adaptive networking license is required for FCIP QoS. Other optional Brocade FOS licenses include Integrated Routing and Extended Fabrics.

What licensing is required to support the Brocade FS8-18 Encryption Blade?

The Brocade FS8-18 Encryption Blade base license supports encryption to disk or tape at up to 48 Gbps per blade. Customers can purchase a disk encryption upgrade license to increase encryption processing performance to 96 Gbps per same blade (tape encryption maximum is 48 Gbps per blade).

What key SAN management capabilities are provided by Brocade Network Advisor?

Brocade Network Advisor provides comprehensive management of data center SAN fabrics, including configuration, monitoring, diagnostics, best-practices validation, and management of Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones, Brocade DCX Backbones, Brocade SAN directors and SAN switches (including Brocade 16 Gbps SAN platforms), Host Bus Adapters (HBAs), and Converged Network Adapters (CNAs).

Brocade Network Advisor also provides out-of-the-box support for leading data center management solutions from IBM, HP, and EMC, as well as seamless support for leading hypervisors from VMware and Microsoft.

What Brocade DCX 8510 Backbone models do Brocade Network Advisor SAN Enterprise, Brocade Network Advisor SAN Professional Plus, and Brocade Network Advisor SAN Professional support?

Brocade Network Advisor SAN Enterprise supports Brocade DCX 8510 and Brocade DCX family models. Brocade Network Advisor SAN Professional/Professional Plus supports Brocade DCX 8510-4 and Brocade DCX-4S only.

Do I need a license to utilize Brocade Virtual Fabrics features?

No. Brocade FOS includes Brocade Virtual Fabrics capabilities for Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones and the Brocade 6510 Switch.

What do mainframe environments gain by using Brocade DCX 8510 FICON directors?

Brocade DCX 8510 FICON directors provide significant value for System z environments, including:

• Users can immediately capitalize on new platform performance for System z. IBM currently supports up to 256 ports in a domain. The 512 Gbps slot bandwidth of Brocade DCX 8510 means users can drive all 256 ports at full 8 and 16 Gbps speed without oversubscription, enabling greater fabric consolidation and lower infrastructure costs, floor space consumption, and HVAC expense.
• At less than 0.2 watt/Gbps, the Brocade DCX 8510 frees up limited power and cooling resources to support more mainframe and storage equipment.
• With two modular and scalable form factors to select from, data centers have broad flexibility in delivering uncongested FICON performance in the most cost-effective manner. As an example, the Brocade DCX 8510-4 aligns well with the environment and budget objectives of the new IBM System z "Business Class" for midsize enterprises.
• Brocade Virtual Fabrics capabilities allow data centers supporting both open systems and System z to logically partition a Brocade DCX 8510 and SAN fabric into Fibre Channel and FICON environments. This enables the data center to reduce network infrastructure costs and improve return on investments, while keeping Fibre Channel and FICON management and traffic flows separate.
• For data replication and backup over distance, Brocade DCX 8510 FICON directors with Brocade FX8-24 blades have powerful extension capabilities that include diskwrite acceleration over extended Fibre Channel and FCIP links (called Fast Write), FICON Tape Pipelining to accelerate tape reads and writes, and FICON Global Mirror Disk Emulation to accelerate disk reads when using IBM Global Mirror.
• Brocade Top Talkers and Adaptive Networking capabilities help optimize FICON environments and application service levels.
• When connecting two Brocade DCX 8510 chassis—for up to 768 (Brocade DCX 8510-8) or 384 (Brocade DCX 8510-4) Fibre Channel/FICON ports—ICLs do not count as a hop, so the one-hop FICON limit is not affected.

Can Brocade FC16-48 blades be used in Brocade DCX 8510 in FICON environments?

Yes, with some caveats. The 48-port 16 Gbps blade can be used in the Brocade DCX 8510-4 model without restriction in FICON environments. The 48-port 8 Gbps blade can be used in the Brocade DCX 8510-8 model in FICON or mixed Fibre Channel/FICON environments using Brocade Virtual Fabrics, logical switch port counts under 256, and flat addressing. The Brocade FC16-48 blade can also be used in mixed Fibre Channel/FICON environments without using Brocade Virtual Fabrics, as long as FICON traffic travels over Brocade FC16 -32 blades only (Fibre Channel traffic can travel over Brocade FC16-32 and Brocade FC16-48 blades).

Can Brocade FC8-32E, FC8-48E, and FC8-64 blades be used in Brocade DCX 8510 in FICON environments?

No. There are no plans to qualify these blades in a FICON environment.

Can a single Brocade DCX 8510 with mixed FICON and Fibre Channel traffic use CUP to manage the system?

If CUP is used to manage the FICON environment, all FICON and Fibre Channel ports are seen and can be managed using CUP. If using Brocade Virtual Fabrics and "Logical Switch," CUP can be used to manage only those ports in the partition to which it is defined.

Can I manage a FICON fabric with Brocade DCFM and Brocade Network Advisor?

Brocade Data Center Fabric Manager (DCFM) 10.4.1 supports only the 8 Gbps Brocade DCX platform while Brocade Network Advisor 11.1 will support the entire Brocade DCX 8510 and Brocade DCX product families.

How many CUP instances are supported for each Brocade DCX 8510 chassis?

Brocade FOS 7.0 will support four CUP instances on each chassis.

Documentation:

Download the Brocade DCX 8510 Backbone Datasheet (PDF).