Brocade VDX 6940-144S Switch
64-Port and 96-Port 10 Gigabit Ethernet QSFP+ Data Center Switch with up to 12 40GbE QSFP+ ports or up to 4 100GbE QSFP28 ports
Comes with two AC Power supplies
Comes with two AC Power supplies
Comes with two AC Power supplies
Comes with two AC Power supplies
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Overview:
Brocade VDX switches are designed to help organizations stay ahead of application-driven network change by enabling agile growth through a scale-out architecture. This approach offers three key benefits. First, it enables network expansion as a business grows over time. One can horizontally scale spine switches as the number of leaf switches increase. Second, scale-out architecture also enables the creation of resilient network fabrics, eliminating a single point of failure and potential downtime. Third, and most important, a scale-out network architecture delivers a compelling economic benefit. Unlike scale-up, a scale-out model lowers upfront investment. And by using highdensity fixed switches, it lowers the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), reducing power, cooling, and data center space.
The Brocade VDX 6940-144S is a 10 GbE optimized switch with 40 GbE or 100 GbE uplinks in a 2U form factor. It offers 96 native 10 GbE SFP+ ports and 12 40 GbE QSFP+ ports, or 4 100 GbE QSFP28 ports. In addition, the Brocade VDX 6940-144S provides flexibility for uplinks, 40 GbE or 100 GbE from leaf switches, and delivers greater cross-sectional bandwidth for east-west traffic. Purpose-built for scale-out data centers and service providers, it enables aggregation of multiple server racks with a single switch.
Brocade VDX 6940 Switches provide the advanced feature set that data centers require while delivering the high performance and low latency virtualized environments demand. Together with Brocade data center fabrics, these switches transform data center networks to support the New IP by enabling cloudbased architectures that deliver new levels of scale, agility, and operational efficiency. These highly automated, software-driven, and programmable data center fabric design solutions support a breadth of network virtualization options and scale for data center environments ranging from tens to thousands of servers. Moreover, they make it easy for organizations to architect, automate, and integrate current and future data center technologies while they transition to a cloud model that addresses their needs, on their own timetable and on their terms.
Advanced Features Enable Data Center Transformation
The data center is evolving, driving requirements for infrastructure that can support dynamic growth in Virtual Machines (VMs), distributed applications, and Big Data, as well as the transition to cloud-based computing—without compromising performance. The Brocade VDX 6940 and the Brocade VDX family of switches deliver the performance, flexibility, scale, and efficiency essential to modern data centers, including cloud and highly virtualized environments.
Brocade Data Center Fabric Technologies:
- Address network needs with a choice of architectures
- Get simple scalability for L2 and expansive scalability for large L3 deployments
- Use resilient, elastic, self-forming, and self-healing fabrics
- Centrally manage all VDX switches as a single logical element
- Deliver low latency and efficiency with load-balanced multipathing at Layers 1,2, 3
- Enable seamless agility, security, and micro-segmentation with Brocade IP Fabric and Brocade VCS Fabric Gateways for VMware NSX network virtualization
- Deliver advanced storage networking with improved performance, management, security, span of control and connectivity for FCoE, iSCSI, NAS
Automation and Programmability
- Scale out fabrics without complexity with automatic fabric provisioning and network virtualization
- Enable cloud-like agility and rapid innovation through open interfaces: Puppet, Ansible, VMware vRealize plugins, REST and Netconf APIs
- Improve programmability with faster, more elegant integration with in-house and third-party management and orchestration tools
- Easily orchestrate fabric services through the OpenStack and OpenDaylight-based SDN Controller
- Provide a choice of multitenant solutions using Virtual Fabrics for tenant isolation within a data center and across data centers
- Reduce maintenance costs and gain high availability through automated service and resource upgrades
Fabric Switches Pack Massive Capability into a Small Footprint
Scale out your data center environments with huge capacity and compelling economic benefits. Enable connection with top-of-rack switches or directly to servers. Include automation that lets you add switches network-wide without manual configuration. Then top it off with exceptional application performance.
DHCP Automatic Fabric Provisioning
Configure a new switch simply by plugging it in. Thanks to Brocade VCS fabric technologies, power and a network connection are all you need. The switch immediately becomes part of the network fabric, automatically provisioned and centrally managed.
Better Performance for Large Infrastructures
Infrastructures with extensive traffic require lots of switch ports. And the VDX 6940 is an undisputed industry leader, with the market’s highest 10 GbE and 40 GbE port density in a fixed form factor switch. And with line rate throughput across all ports, you gain better application performance during bursty traffic.
Balanced Design Improves User Experience
Moving traffic quickly across the network and ensuring ideal application performance requires unique switch characteristics. The VDX 6940 boasts a uniquely optimized packet buffer and latency that addresses both challenges. Outstanding throughput and performance, end to end.
Programmability: A Gift to Productivity
The days of manually configuring individual switches are over. The VCS Fabric, IP Fabric, APIs, and scripting tools let you automate switch feature implementation across the network. And those scripts live on, through operating system upgrades, personnel changes, and more. Greater operational efficiency, ongoing ROI.
Small Footprint Means More for Less
The VDX 6940 capabilities easily measure up to or surpass chassis offerings from competing vendors. But its size doesn’t. The small, rack-mounted design means a lower purchase cost and ongoing operational efficiencies such as reduced power, cooling and space requirements.
Features:
Optimizes Scale-Out Architecture
Brocade VDX switches are designed to help organizations stay ahead of application-driven network change by enabling agile growth through a scaleout architecture. This approach offers three key benefits. First, it enables network expansion as a business grows over time. Data center administrators can horizontally scale spine switches as the number of leaf switches increases. Second, scale-out architecture also enables the creation of resilient network fabrics, eliminating a single point of failure and potential downtime. Third, and most important, scale-out network architecture delivers a compelling economic benefit. Unlike scale-up, a scale-out model reduces upfront investment. And by using high-density fixed switches, it lowers the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), reducing power, cooling, and data center space.
Transforms Networks to Deliver New Levels of Scale, Agility, and Operational Efficiency
Brocade VDX switches enable organizations to evolve their data center networks at their own pace, with full investment protection. As the foundation for several data center architectures, Brocade VDX switches support Brocade IP fabrics, Brocade VCS fabrics, as well as network virtualization, including controller-based network virtualization architectures, such as VMware NSX, and standards-based (BGP-EVPN) controller-less architectures with Brocade BGP-EVPN Network Virtualization for architectural flexibility.
For organizations seeking automated provisioning capabilities to improve IT agility, Brocade VDX switches, together with Brocade VCS Fabric technology, accelerate time to value through automated provisioning of network devices and network virtualization. Automated service and resource upgrades further reduce ongoing maintenance time and costs. High availability is achieved through non-disruptive In-Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) and self-healing fabrics.
Organizations that aim to automate the entire network lifecycle and integrate with cross-domain technologies to improve business agility—but lack sufficient engineering resources or training—can transform their networks with Brocade Workflow Composer. Brocade Workflow Composer supports the Brocade VDX platform, enabling enterprise and cloud service provider IT organizations to bring network automation to IT operations. Unlike other network automation solutions that require proprietary hardware platforms and focus solely on configuration management, Brocade Workflow Composer provides turnkey, customizable, or do-it-yourself network workflow automation for provisioning, validation, troubleshooting, and remediation of the entire Brocade VDX platform—while integrating with tool chains and processes from other IT domains. Brocade Workflow Composer is powered by StackStorm, an open, extensible, and microservices-based framework that leverages the power of proven DevOps methodologies; popular open source technologies such as Puppet, Python, and Mistral; and a thriving technical community for peer collaboration and innovation to provide event-driven, cross-domain workflow automation.
Additionally, Brocade VDX switches offer programmability and interoperability options through a PyNOS Library and YANG model-based REST and Netconf APIs. Cloud orchestration and control through OpenStack and OpenDaylightbased SDN controller support enable full network integration with compute and storage resource provisioning and management.
Meets Today’s Application Demands with High Performance and Low Latency
As data centers virtualize more of their servers and VM density per server increases, organizations will require higher bandwidth connectivity to support the explosion of data and application processing. With 1/10 GbE and 40 GbE options, Brocade VDX 6940 Switches deliver the high-performance computing needed to keep up with the demands of a virtualized data center, allowing organizations to reduce network congestion, improve application performance, and meet the capacity required by 10 GbE servers. The 40 GbE and 100 GbE uplinks can easily aggregate high-bandwidth traffic and reduce bottlenecks that occur when aggregating multiple 10 GbE or 40 GbE connections, keeping data center networks working at peak performance.
In a Brocade VCS fabric, Brocade VDX 6940 Switches also help maximize network utilization with hardware-based Brocade ISL Trunking. Organizations can create a 120 GbE Brocade ISL trunk by utilizing three 40 GbE ports or 12 10 GbE ports between Brocade VDX 6940 Switches. The Brocade ISL trunk is automatically formed between two Brocade VDX switches when they are linked together, allowing traffic to be equally distributed among all ports. This increases link efficiency and limits traffic disruptions, especially during high-traffic times. Also, 40 GbE and 10 GbE trunking is supported between Brocade VDX 6940, 6740, and 8770 Switches. Refer to the Brocade VDX 6940 Hardware Reference Manual for details.
Brocade VDX 6940 Switches offer a unique balance between two conflicting attributes—buffer and latency. Niche products with very high buffer often suffer from high latency, and products with ultra-low latency are not a good fit for data centers with bursty traffic. Brocade VDX 6940 Switches, with a purpose-built data center chip, excel in optimizing buffer and latency to deliver better application performance. These switches deliver 800 ns any-port-to-any-port latency. In addition, they offer an industry-leading 24 MB deep buffer. This provides the buffering capacity to handle increases in traffic, especially during peak times when ports are congested, allowing traffic to be distributed across the ports. Brocade VDX 6940 Switches also feature a single ASIC design, instead of multiple ASIC designs commonly found in other switches. This improves performance since all ports communicate via the one ASIC.
Cloud and Big Data Environments
Brocade VDX 6940 Switches deliver optimized buffer and latency and high performance to enable greater crosssectional bandwidth for east-west traffic— exactly what cloud workloads demand. These switches offer the flexibility needed to scale out networks, deliver intelligence to more effectively manage VM mobility, as well as provide an SDN-enabled and programmable infrastructure. In addition, Brocade VDX 6940 Switches offer an advanced feature set that non-virtual and Big Data environments require. With 10, 40, and 100 GbE options for designing oversubscribed or non-oversubscribed networks, high throughput, and optimized buffer and latency, the Brocade VDX 6940 is an ideal switch for Big Data applications. Together with Brocade data center fabrics, Brocade VDX 6940 Switches can simplify network design and operations for both cloud and Big Data network fabrics.
Fits into Any Data Center Design
Brocade VDX 6940-36Q and 6940-144S front access ports are positioned to enable easy server or switch connectivity and to simplify cabling. With a choice of front-to-back or backto-front airflow, these switches are ideal for deployments connecting servers, storage, and other switches, as well as for providing compatibility for either hot aisle or cold aisle data center designs. For the 40 GbE ports that also support 10 GbE connections with breakout cables, the switches offer the flexibility needed to support a mixed environment as data centers or service providers transition to higher bandwidth.
Brocade VDX 6940 Switches are designed to connect data centers in multiple ways to meet individual design requirements. This flexible design provides investment protection, giving organizations a single switch that can support varying data center requirements. The following features help organizations meet their evolving needs:
- 10/40/100 GbE uplinks: The 40 GbE QSFP+ ports offer the flexibility to expand and interconnect the network infrastructure intelligently and efficiently while reducing bottlenecks. Brocade VDX 6940 Switches offer the option to separate each 40 GbE uplink into four 10 GbE uplinks via breakout cables. As capacity and need increase, organizations can revert to 40 GbE when ready.
- Ports on Demand: Ports on Demand (PoD) enables organizations to activate additional ports. They can purchase the number of ports that they currently need and seamlessly scale up later by simply applying a software license. This flexible and cost-efficient “pay as you grow” licensing model solves scalability challenges by allocating IT resources as needed.
Maximizes Network Availability with Efficiency and Resiliency
Brocade data center fabrics create a more efficient and resilient network, and deliver the high performance and high reliability required by modern data centers, including cloud and highly virtualized environments.
Optimizing East-West Traffic
Traditional data centers are architected with a rigid, three-tier tree topology optimized for the north-south traffic flow of client-server computing environments, compromising performance, increasing latency, and creating bottlenecks. With the increased prevalence of virtualization and distributed applications, data center network traffic is now predominantly east-west, or server-server. Brocade data center fabrics were designed and optimized to address these traffic patterns by moving traffic through any of the active paths and avoiding the multiple hops required in other tiered topologies.
In-Service Software Upgrade
The Brocade VDX 6940 delivers a highly efficient In-Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) by leveraging a software model that uses a dual-OS infrastructure on a multi-core CPU. This enables data center administrators to deliver enterprise-class business continuity on fixed switches during a software upgrade/downgrade process. This software change process is non-disruptive to Layer 2, Layer 3, Fibre Channel, and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) traffic. Moreover, the ISSU implementation is hardware-optimized, thus reducing the time it takes to complete the upgrade/downgrade process.
Advanced Storage Support
Brocade VDX 6940 Switches provide advanced storage support with multiple storage connectivity options, including FCoE, iSCSI, and NAS. They also feature Data Center Bridging (DCB), which enables the reliable exchange of storage traffic over the LAN, eliminating packet loss when network congestion occurs and allocating bandwidth as needed to keep the network running efficiently. Moreover, Brocade VDX 6940 Switches offer NAS Auto QoS intelligence to prioritize delay-sensitive IP storage traffic within the fabric and to help ensure consistent performance while decreasing latency.
Brocade Global Services
Brocade Global Services has the expertise to help organizations build scalable, efficient cloud infrastructures. Leveraging 20 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.
Acquisition Options That Match Balance Sheet Objectives
Successful network deployments drive business forward, providing technical and financial agility. Brocade offers the broadest financing models, from traditional leasing to Brocade Network Subscription. Network-as-a-Service allows organizations to subscribe to network assets today then upgrade on demand, scale up or down, or return them with 60-day notification. Brocade Network Subscription plans can be structured to meet IASC guidelines for OpEx or CapEx treatment to align with financial goals.
Maximizing Investments
To help optimize technology investments, Brocade and its partners offer complete solutions that include professional services, technical support, and education.
Architectures:
Brocade Data Center Fabrics and Network Virtualization Options
Multiple network architectures offer the flexibility that can help organizations rapidly adapt to changing business conditions and traffic patterns.
Brocade Workflow Composer
Brocade Workflow Composer brings workflow-centric, cross-domain network automation to IT operations.
Specifications:
Front View
Rear View
| VDX 6940-36Q | VDX 6940-144S | |
|---|---|---|
| Form factor | 1U | 1U |
| Switching bandwidth (data rate, full duplex) | 2.88 Tbps | 2.88 Tbps |
| Switch performance | 2.16 Bpps | 2.16 Bpps |
| Port-to-port latency | 800 ns | 800 ns |
| Dimensions and Weight | Width: 44 cm (17.32 in.) Height: 4.4 cm (1.73 in.) Depth: 43.8 cm (17.22 in.) Weight: 8.9 kg (19.6 lb) without media; 10.1 kg (22.3 lb) with media |
Width: 44 cm (17.32 in.) Height: 8.7 cm (3.41 in.) Depth: 48.5 cm (19.1 in.) Weight: 15.46 kg (34.1 lb) empty; 17.32 kg (38.2 lb) with media |
| 10 GbE SFP+ ports | 144 10 GbE ports using breakout cables | 96 fixed 10 GbE ports and additional 48 10 GbE ports with breakout cables |
| 1 GbE SFP | 0 | 96 |
| 1/10 GBASE-T | 0 | 0 |
| 40 GbE QSFP+ | 36 | 12 |
| 100 GbE QSFP28 | 0 | 4 |
| 40 GbE Ports on Demand (PoD) | 24, 36 | 6, 12 |
| 10 GbE Ports on Demand (PoD) | N/A | 64, 80, 96 |
| Power supplies | Two internal, redundant, field-replaceable, load-sharing AC/DC power supplies | Two internal, redundant, field-replaceable, loadsharing AC/DC power supplies |
| Cooling fans | 5 field-replaceable fans (FRUs); each fan FRU has 2 fans | 4 field-replaceable fans (FRUs); each fan FRU has 1 fan |
| Airflow | Rear-to-front or front-to-rear airflow | Rear-to-front or front-to-rear airflow |
| Scalability Information* | ||
| Connector options | Out-of-band Ethernet management: RJ45 (fixed) Console management: RJ45 to RS-232 (fixed) Firmware and diagnostic: USB |
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| Maximum VLANs | 4,096 | |
| Maximum MAC addresses | 112,000 (L2 MACs); fabric-wide 256,000 (CML) | |
| Maximum port profiles (AMPP) | 512 | |
| Maximum members in a standard LAG | 16 | |
| Maximum per-port priority pause level | 8 | |
| Maximum switches that a vLAG can span | 8 | |
| Maximum members in a vLAG | 64 | |
| Maximum jumbo frame size | 9,216 bytes | |
| Queues per port | 8 | |
| DCB Priority Flow Control (PFC) classes | 8 | |
| Maximum ACLs | 10,000 | |
| Maximum ARP entries | 84,000 | |
| Maximum IPv4 unicast routes | 12,000 | |
| Maximum IPv6 unicast routes | 3,000 | |
| DCB Priority Flow Control (PFC) classes | 8 | |
| HA/ISSU | ISSU fully supported | |
| Mechanical | ||
| Enclosure | Front-to-rear, rear-to-front airflow; 1U (6940-36Q) and 2U (6940-144S), 19-inch EIA-compliant; power from non-port side | |
| Environmental | VDX 8770-4 | VDX 8770-8 |
| Temperature | Operating: 0°C to 40°C (32°F to 104°F) Non-operating and storage: −25°C to 70°C (−13°F to 158°F) |
|
| Humidity | Operating: 5% to 93% at 50°C (122°F) Non-operating and storage: 10% to 95% at 60°C (140°F) |
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| Altitude | Operating: 0 to 3,000 m (9,842 ft.) Non-operating and storage: 0 to 12,000 m (39,370 ft.) |
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| Shock | Operating: 15 G, 11 ms, half-sine wave Non-operating and storage: 33 G, 11 ms, half-sine wave, 5/ea axis, and 33 G 6 ms, trapezoidal, 1/ea axis |
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| Vibration | Operating: 1 G sine, 0.5 gms random, 5 to 500 Hz Non-operating and storage: 2.4 G sine, 1.1 gms random, 5 to 500 Hz |
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| Airflow | Maximum: 159 CMH (94 CFM) Minimum: 65 CMH (38 CFM) |
Maximum: 370 CMH (218 CFM) Minimum: 95 CMH (56 CFM) |
| Power | VDX 6940-36Q | VDX 6940-144S |
| Power supplies | Two internal, redundant, field-replaceable, loadsharing power supplies | Two internal, redundant, field-replaceable, loadsharing power supplies |
| Power inlet | C13 | C13 |
| Input voltage | 100 to 240 V or 48 V DC | 100 to 240 V or 48 V DC |
| Input line frequency | 50 to 60 Hz | 50 to 60 Hz |
| Inrush current | 30 A peak at cold start and 50 A peak at warm start for <10 ms, 10 A peak for cycles 10 ms to 150 ms, <7 A peak for >150 ms | 40 A peak at either cold or warm start <10 ms, 10 A peak for cycles 10 ms to 150 ms, <7 A peak for >150 ms |
| Maximum current | 6 A at 100 VAC 7 A at 90 VAC |
6 A at 100 VAC 7 A at 85 VAC |
| Typical power consumption | At 100 VAC 2.18 A, 215 W, 733.81 BTU/hr At 200 VAC 1.12 A, 212 W, 723.57 BTU/hr Input current calculated with 1 PSU; watts and BTU/hour with 2 PSUs |
At 100 VAC 3.288 A, 327 W, 1,116 BTU/hr At 200 VAC 1.639 A, 321 W, 1,095 BTU/hr Input current calculated with 1 PSU; watts and BTU/hour with 2 PSUs |
| Maximum power consumption | At 100 VAC 2.84 A, 282 W, 962.5 BTU/hr At 200 VAC 1.44 A, 276 W, 942 BTU/hr Input current calculated with 1 PSU; watts and BTU/hour with 2 PSUs |
At 100 VAC 2.706 A, 512 W, 1,747 BTU/hr At 200 VAC 1.375 A, 500 W, 1,706 BTU/hr Input current calculated with 1 PSU; watts and BTU/hour with 2 PSUs |
| Compliance | ||
| Safety Compliance |
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| EMC |
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| Immunity |
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| Environmental Regulatory Compliance |
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| Standards Compliance | Brocade VDX 6940 products conform to the following Ethernet standards:
The following draft versions of the Data Center Bridging (DCB) and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) standards are also supported on the Brocade VDX 6740:
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* Please refer to the latest version of the release notes for the most up-to-date scalability numbers.
† Hardware supported.
| RFC Support | |||
|---|---|---|---|
RFC Support
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IPv6 Routing
IPv6 Multicast
VRRP/VRRPe
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Brocade Network OS Software Capabilities:
| VCS Fabrics | IP Fabrics | |
|---|---|---|
| Software Scalability | ||
| Maximum switches in a fabric | 48 | Unlimited |
| Maximum ECMP paths in a fabric | 32 | 32 |
| Maximum LAGs in a fabric | 2000 | 144 |
| Layer 2 Switching | ||
| Service Node Load Balancing BFD/ARP Optimizations | ||
| Conversational MAC Learning | ||
| Virtual Link Aggregation Group (vLAG) spanning | ||
| Layer 2 Access Control Lists (ACLs | ||
| Edge Loop Detection (ELD) | ||
| Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) RFC 826 | ||
| Private VLANs | ||
| Maintenance Mode/Graceful Traffic Diversion | ||
| Distributed VXLAN Gateway | ||
| Diagnostic Ports | ||
| IP Maps Support | ||
| L2 Loop prevention in an overlay environment | ||
| High availability/In-Service Software Upgrade—hardware-enabled | ||
| IGMP v1/v2 Snooping | ||
| MAC Learning and Aging | ||
| Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) IEEE 802.3ad/802.1AX | ||
| Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs) | ||
| VLAN Encapsulation 802.1Q | ||
| Per-VLAN Spanning Tree (PVST+/PVRST+) | ||
| Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) 802.1w | ||
| Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol (MSTP) 802.1s | ||
| STP PortFast, BPDU Guard, BPDU Filter | ||
| STP Root Guard | ||
| Pause Frames 802.3x | ||
| Static MAC Configuration | ||
| Uni-Directional Link Detection (UDLD) | ||
| Transparent LAN Services | ||
| Layer 3 Switching | ||
| Border Gateway Protocol (BGP4+) | ||
| DHCP Helper | ||
| Layer 3 ACLs | ||
| Multicast: PIM-SM, IGMPv2 | ||
| OSPF v2/v3 | ||
| Static routes | ||
| IPv4/v6 ACL | ||
| Policy-Based Routing (PBR) | ||
| Bidirectional Fault Detection (BFD) | ||
| 32-WAY ECMP | ||
| VRF Lite | ||
| VRF-aware OSPF, BGP, VRRP, static routes | ||
| VRRP v2 and v3 | ||
| Fabric Virtual Gateway | ||
| IPv4/IPv6 dual stack | ||
| IPv6 ACL packet filtering | ||
| BGP Additional-Path | ||
| BGP-Allow AS | ||
| BGP Generalized TTL Security Mechanism (GTSM) | ||
| BGP Peer Auto Shutdown | ||
| Multicast Refactoring | ||
| IPv6 routing | ||
| OSPF Type-3 LSA Filter | ||
| Wire-speed routing for IPv4 and IPv6 using any routing protocol | ||
| BGP-EVPN Control Plane Signaling RFC 7432 | ||
| BGP-EVPN VXLAN Standard-based Overlay | ||
| Multi-VRF | ||
| IP Unnumbered Interface | ||
| Intersubnet Routing (Symmetric and Assymetric) | ||
| IP over Port Channel | ||
| VRRP-E | ||
| Static Anycast Gateway | ||
| ARP Suppression | ||
| Automation and Programmability | ||
| OpenFlow 1.3 | ||
| REST API with YANG data model | ||
| Puppet | ||
| Python | ||
| PyNOS libraries | ||
| Ansible | ||
| VMware vRealize plugins | ||
| DHCP automatic fabric provisioning | ||
| Netconf API | ||
| Multitenancy and Virtualization | ||
| TRILL FGL-based VCS Virtual Fabric feature | ||
| Virtual fabric extension | ||
| VM-Aware Network Automation | ||
| BFD for virtual fabric extension | ||
| Brocade VCS Gateway for NSX | ||
| Brocade IP Fabric Gateway for NSX | ||
| VMware NSX-v Certification | ||
| Automatic Migration of Port Profiles (AMPP) | ||
| DCB | ||
| Priority-based Flow Control (PFC) 802.1Qbb | ||
| Enhanced Transmission Selection (ETS) 802.1Qaz | ||
| Manual configuration of lossless queues for protocols other than FCoE and iSCSI | ||
| Data Center Bridging eXchange (DCBX) | ||
| DCBX Application Type-Length-Value (TLV) for FCoE and iSCSI | ||
| Fibre Channel/FCoE | ||
| Multi-hop Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE); requires Brocade VCS Fabric technology | ||
| FC-BB5 compliant Fibre Channel Forwarder (FCF) | ||
| Native FCoE forwarding | ||
| FCoE to Fibre Channel Bridging | ||
| FCoE on Brocade VDX 6740 and Brocade VDX 6740T | ||
| FCoE on QSFP+ port | ||
| Flex Ports, allowing direct and SAN connectivity of Fibre Channel targets | ||
| Multi-hop Access Gateway Support | ||
| End-to-end FCoE (initiator to target) | ||
| FCoE Initialization Protocol (FIP) v1 support for FCoE device login and initialization | ||
| Name Server-based zoning | ||
| Supports connectivity to FIP Snooping Bridge (FSB) device | ||
| FCoE traffic over standard LAG | ||
| Interface Binding | ||
| 10 GbE CoD license needs to be activated in order to support FCoE on the Brocade VDX 6740T-1G | ||
| Dual Personality Ports | ||
| Logical SANs | ||
| High Availability | ||
| ISSU L2 and L3 | ||
| BFD | ||
| OSPF3-NSR | ||
| BGP4-GR | ||
| Quality of Service (QoS) | ||
| ACL-based QoS | ||
| Eight priority levels for QoS | ||
| Class of Service (CoS) IEEE 802.1p | ||
| DSCP Trust | ||
| DSCP to Traffic Class Mutation | ||
| DSCP to CoS Mutation | ||
| DSCP to DSCP Mutation | ||
| Random Early Discard | ||
| Per-port QoS configuration | ||
| ACL-based Rate Limit | ||
| Dual-rate, three-color token bucket | ||
| ACL-based remarking of CoS/DSCP/Precedence | ||
| ACL-based sFlow | ||
| Scheduling: Strict Priority (SP), Deficit Weighted Round-Robin (DWRR), Hybrid Scheduling (Hybrid) | ||
| Queue-based Shaping | ||
| Flow-based QoS | ||
| Management and Monitoring | ||
| Logical chassis management | ||
| Switch Beaconing | ||
| IPv4/IPv6 management | ||
| Industry-standard Command Line Interface (CLI) | ||
| Netconf API | ||
| REST API with YANG data model | ||
| Brocade VDX Plugin for OpenStack | ||
| Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) IEEE 802.1AB | ||
| MIB II RFC 1213 MIB | ||
| Management VRF | ||
| Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN) | ||
| Telnet | ||
| SNMP v1, v2C, v3 | ||
| sFlow RFC 3176 | ||
| Out-of-band management | ||
| Remote SPAN (RSPAN) | ||
| RMON-1, RMON-2 | ||
| NTP | ||
| Management Access Control Lists (ACLs) | ||
| Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) | ||
| Range CLI support | ||
| UDLD | ||
| OpenStack Neutron ML2 plugin | ||
| Python | ||
| Puppet | ||
| Distributed Configuration Management | ||
| Maps switch health monitoring | ||
| Security | ||
| Port-based Network Access Control 802.1X | ||
| RADIUS (AAA) | ||
| TACACS+ | ||
| Secure Shell (SSHv2) | ||
| BPDU Drop | ||
| Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) | ||
| Secure Copy Protoco | ||
| Port Security | ||
Premier and Premier-Plus Support:
Personalized, Preferential, Proactive Support to Maximize the Network's Value
Brocade understands that every network is unique and requires a different level of technical support to meet the customer's business requirements. Brocade Direct Support offers different levels of support to meet each customer's specific needs. To help customers with large, complex environments maximize the value of their networks, Brocade Premier and PremierPlus Support provide personalized, preferential, and proactive support.
A Personalized Support Experience
Premier and Premier-Plus Support are designed to provide a higher level of support for larger, more complex environments. At the same time, these support options help customers realize the full potential of their networks through advanced features, including:
- Support Account Manager
- Onsite Support Engineer
- Premier account profile
- Choice of hardware Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
- MySupport online portal
Support Account Manager
Premier and Premier-Plus Support include a Brocade Support Account Manager (SAM) who acts as a single point of contact into Brocade Technical Support. The Brocade SAM monitors support activities, streamlining the delivery of Brocade Technical Support to accelerate problem resolution. Within the first few days of contract activation, the Brocade SAM will meet with the customer to review Brocade Technical Support processes, share contact information, determine the customer's reporting requirements, and establish a regular meeting schedule to review the status of support activities.
Thereafter, the Brocade SAM is the focal point for coordination of all support activities, including:
- Problem escalation and critical situation management
- Proactive support reviews and health checks
- Upcoming product implementations and change activities
- Software release and upgrade planning
- Coordination of firmware upgrades
Onsite Support Engineer
In today's business climate, IT organizations with growing and complex networking infrastructures often find themselves short on time and/or resources—making it difficult to meet the needs of the business while performing daily support and management activities. Yet adding headcount is not always an option. To address this issue, Premier-Plus Support includes a Brocade Onsite Support Engineer (OSE) in addition to the features in a Premier Support agreement. Brocade OSEs work side by side with a customer's IT staff, providing onsite technical expertise to keep Brocade Storage Area Network (SAN) and IP networking environments running smoothly.
Brocade OSEs are senior technical professionals who have in-depth expertise in Brocade hardware and software products, and provide half- or full-time onsite support. As focused support contacts for all Brocade solutions, Brocade OSEs facilitate communication and provide proactive coordination of problem escalation and change activities, accelerating resolution and improving operational efficiency. These engineers have access to a vast Brocade knowledge base and leverage strategic Brocade partnerships to quickly troubleshoot and resolve issues in multivendor environments.
Premier Account Profile
As an extended member of the customer team, the Brocade SAM will create a Premier account profile, detailing pertinent information about a customer's environment. When a service request is opened by phone, e-mail, or online using MySupport, the Brocade Technical Support Engineer addressing the problem can access this profile to gain full insight into the customer's Brocade environment and expedite problem resolution. The Premier account profile facilitates faster time to resolution by including details such as:
- Customer contact information
- Secure remote access instructions
- Network diagrams
- Device list, software version, and configuration files
- Quarterly support review and annual health check reports
Service Level Options
No two customers or networks are identical. To meet the specific needs of a customer's network and business requirements, Premier and Premier-Plus Support offer several SLA options, providing customers increased flexibility and choice:
- 2 Hour, 4-Hour, NextBusiness-Day Onsite
- 2 Hour, 4-Hour, Next-Business-Day Parts
- Return to Factory
- Remote Support
- Software Technical Support (24X7)
Onsite Support
Available in most major metropolitan areas worldwide, 2-Hour, 4-Hour, and next-Business-Day Onsite support provide 24X7 telephone support and electronic access to software updates, plus remote support and two-hour, four-hour, or next-business-day advanced hardware replacement response on parts delivery. (As available. Contact Brocade for more information.)
Parts Support
Available in most major metropolitan areas worldwide, 2-Hour, 4-Hour, and NextBusiness-Day Parts support provide 24X7 telephone support and electronic access to software updates, plus two-hour, fourhour, or next-business-day advanced hardware replacement response on parts delivery. (As available. Contact Brocade for more information.)
Return to Factory
Available worldwide, Return to Factory support provides 24X7 telephone support and electronic access to software updates, plus no-charge return-to-factory hardware repair. The repaired or replacement unit is shipped within five business days after the day the failed unit is received.
Remote Support
Available on certain products, Remote Support provides 24X7 telephone support and electronic access to software updates. Any required hardware repairs would be performed under warranty or on a time-andmaterial basis.
Software Technical Support (24X7)
Available on software applications, Software Technical Support provides 24X7 telephone support and electronic access to software updates.
MySupport Online Portal
Brocade Technical Support customers with a valid Technical Support agreement have access to MySupport, an online portal for 24X7 technical support. A customizable module within MyBrocade™, MySupport gives customers access to a Case and Asset Management tool to open, update, and track service requests in real time. Through MySupport, customers can also access a knowledge base for solutions to technical issues, product documentation, and software downloads for firmware upgrades and new releases.
Priority Access to Brocade Technical Support
Large SAN and IP networking organizations require maximum network uptime to meet their business requirements. To address the business challenges facing these customers, Premier and PremierPlus Support provide priority access to Brocade Technical Support and accelerated escalation management.
| Available Service Options | 2-Hour Onsite | 2-Hour Parts | 4-Hour Onsite | 4-Hour Parts | Next-Business-Day Onsite |
| Telephone Support | 24X7 access | 24X7 access | 24X7 access | 24X7 access | 24X7 access |
| Online Support and Trouble Ticketing | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Secure Remote Access | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Software Releases | Bug fixes and maintenance updates | Bug fixes and maintenance updates | Bug fixes and maintenance updates | Bug fixes and maintenance updates | Bug fixes and maintenance updates |
| Hardware Replacement/Repair | 2-hour onsite hardware replacement | 2-hour advanced hardware replacement | 4-hour onsite hardware replacement | 4-hour advanced hardware replacement | Next-Business-Day onsite hardware replacement |
| Available Service Options | Next-Business-Day Parts | Return to Factory | Remote Support | Software Technical Support 24X7 | |
| Telephone Support | 24X7 access | 24X7 access | 24X7 access | 24X7 access | |
| Online Support and Trouble Ticketing | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | |
| Secure Remote Access | Included | Included | Included | Included | |
| Software Releases | Bug fixes and maintenance updates | Bug fixes and maintenance updates | Bug fixes and maintenance updates | Bug fixes and maintenance updates | |
| Hardware Replacement/Repair | Next-Business-Day advanced hardware replacement | Repaired hardware shipped within 5 business days | None | None | |
Priority Access
Premier and Premier-Plus Support customers can bypass the support queue and move to the front of the line for more immediate problem resolution.
Accelerated Escalation Management
The Brocade Technical Support escalation policy offers rapid response and more frequent communication with Premier and Premier-Plus Support customers. Severity 1 and Severity 2 issues receive management attention faster and at a higher level within Brocade for faster problem resolution. Premier and Premier-Plus customers also receive frequent updates on the status of outstanding service requests.
Moreover, the Brocade SAM acts as the customer's advocate within Brocade and serves as a single point of contact for all Brocade hardware and software escalations and critical situation management. The Brocade SAM streamlines support while working on the customer's behalf for timely issue escalation and problem resolution.
Proactive Problem Identification and Faster Time to Resolution
Brocade recognizes that network downtime can be costly, and took this into consideration when designing Premier and Premier-Plus Support. These support options proactively address issues before a customer's network is impacted by providing:
- Fault management and proactive monitoring
- Quarterly support reviews
- Annual Brocade SAN Health and Brocade NET Health™ checks
Fault Management and Proactive Monitoring
Utilizing a secure Virtual Private Network (VPN) infrastructure to conduct fault management and proactive monitoring, Brocade Technical Support Engineers can view customers' Brocade network devices and proactively identify problems before their networks are impacted. Fault management gives Brocade Technical Support Engineers the ability to respond proactively to problems or faults within customers' network devices. Proactive monitoring—which is provided for all devices included in a Premier or Premier-Plus Support agreement—allows Brocade Technical Support Engineers to anticipate potential problems and thereby avoid issues that could lead to network downtime. If a problem is identified, tight integration with Brocade Technical Support expedites the creation of service requests and reduces time to resolution. Together, fault management and proactive monitoring can reduce network downtime by as much as one hour per event.
Quarterly Support Reviews
Brocade SAMs conduct quarterly support reviews to communicate the overall support status of Brocade networking infrastructures and to discuss ways to improve uptime and operational efficiency. These reviews include:
- Metrics on the number of open and closed service requests
- A list of open requests and their status
- An in-depth analysis of the reported problems
- Recommendations to address these issues
Annual Health Checks
Brocade offers annual Brocade SAN Health and Brocade NET Health checks for efficient networking infrastructure operations. The Brocade SAM coordinates the annual health check, working with Brocade experts to collect and analyze critical operational data such as the logical and physical topology, device inventory, zoning, bandwidth utilization, and monitoring capabilities.
World-Class Support Infrastructure
Brocade Technical Support is designed to provide optimum support for Premier and Premier-Plus Support customers. Premier and Premier-Plus Support customers can leverage the Brocade worldwide support infrastructure, expertise, best-practice guidance, and commitment to quality to maximize their network uptime.
Worldwide Coverage
With multiple Brocade Technical Assistance Centers and more than 170 parts depots in over 40 countries, Brocade is capable of delivering support wherever it is needed. Through this worldwide support infrastructure, Premier and Premier-Plus Support customers have access to a strong partner ecosystem capable of performing onsite repair and/or replacement. In addition, toll-free numbers and local language support enable easy, trouble-free communication with Brocade Technical Support.Brocade Expertise
Brocade Technical Support Engineers have deep networking expertise and are trained to resolve network problems as quickly as possible with minimal downtime. Moreover, Brocade Technical Support Engineers receive ongoing training and certification to provide customers with the most skilled team to address their issues.Best-Practice Guidance
Brocade SAMs are knowledgeable about Brocade hardware and software products, and offer best-practice guidance to optimize Brocade networking infrastructures. Brocade SAMs can help Premier and Premier-Plus Support customers understand the features available in each product release as well as the differences between Brocade and Brocade OEM Partner release levels. In addition, they can provide recommendations for software and hardware upgrades.Commitment to Quality
Leveraging best practices and fostering a culture of continuous improvement, Brocade offers high-quality technical support for its networking solutions by investing in quality processes, people, and partnerships. Brocade Technical Support invests in quality processes by gathering customer feedback on delivery quality, processes, systems, products, and offerings, and leverages a third party to gather unbiased customer feedback, satisfaction ratings, and statistics that help drive ongoing improvement. Brocade Technical Support also invests in its people through ongoing training and certification, providing customers with the most skilled team to address their issues. Furthermore, Brocade invests in its partnerships through quarterly business reviews with partners to identify areas for improvement.
Documentation:
Download the Brocade VDX 6940 Switch Datasheet (PDF).
Pricing Notes:
- Pricing and product availability subject to change without notice.
Comes with two AC Power supplies
Comes with two AC Power supplies
Comes with two AC Power supplies
Comes with two AC Power supplies
Comes with two AC Power supplies
Comes with two AC Power supplies