Network equipment manufacturer Extreme Networks and networking technology provider Qlogic have signed an agreement to work together to deliver a new storage network application for data centres.
The new storage network application will allow data centre operators to connect Ethernet networks to both Fibre Channel and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) networks for a converged storage application.
The combined application is based on Extreme Networks Open Fabric Architecture 10GbE and 40GbE network switches and QLogic Fibre Channel and FCoE storage products. Working together, the products will allow customers to accelerate their storage deployments to a unified network fabric.
Extreme Networks and QLogic will deliver interoperable converged fabric, Fibre Channel and Ethernet applications that include Extreme Networks BlackDiamond and Summit-series data centre switches with QLogic 10GbE Converged Network Adapters (CNAs) as well as QLogic 5800 Series Fibre Channel switches and Universal Access Point UA5900 Series converged switches.
In partnership with QLogic, Extreme Networks will offer reference architectures as a first phase of an overall go-to-market strategy.
Qlogic Corporate Marketing vice president Chris Humphrey said developing a joint reference architecture that delivers FCoE and native 16Gb Fibre Channel, gives customers the option to deploy the right technology based on their requirements.
"Data center deployments are pragmatic and this solution gives customers a way to implement converged data center networks more easily, at their own pace and at the right cost," said Humphrey.
