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IBM Storage Networking SAN64B-6 Switch
Simplify scalability and management complexity
The SAN64B-6 features up to 64 Fibre Channel ports in an efficiently designed 1U form
factor, delivering industry-leading port density and space utilization for simplified scalability
and data center consolidation. With this high-density design, organizations can pack more
into a single data center with a smaller footprint, reducing costs and management complexity.
Designed for maximum flexibility and value, this enterprise-class switch offers
“pay-as-you-grow” scalability with Ports on Demand (PoD) capability. Organizations can
quickly, easily, and cost-effectively scale from 24 to 64 ports with a combination of 12-port
SFP+ PoD and 16-port Q-Flex PoD.
Each of the 48 SFP+ ports supports 4, 8, 10, 16, and 32 Gbps Fibre Channel speeds, while
each of the 4 Q-Flex ports is capable of supporting 4×32 Gbps, or 128 Gbps, Fibre Channel
speeds. In addition, Q-Flex ports are designed to support QSFP optics to deliver 4-to-1 cable
consolidation (combining four cables into one cable per port).
SAN64B-6 ports are available for device port or ISL port connectivity. As such, Q-Flex ports
can be used as ISLs to provide simple build-out of fabrics, with more switching bandwidth. In
addition, flexible, high-speed 32 Gbps and 16 Gbps optics allow organizations to deploy
bandwidth on demand to meet growing data center needs. With its flexible PoD capability, the
SAN64B-6 provides excellent overall value, and the agility needed to deliver rapid
deployments to meet user demands and support higher growth.
Along with providing best-in-class scalability, the SAN64B-6 simplifies end-to-end network
management by automating monitoring and diagnostics through Fabric Vision technology.
The switch is easy to deploy with the EZSwitchSetup wizard, and provides validation prior to
deployment with the ClearLink Diagnostic Ports (D_Ports) feature. For maximum flexibility, the
switch also features dual airflow direction options to support the latest hot aisle/cold aisle
configurations.
Gain control and insight to quickly identify problems and meet critical SLAs
The SAN64B-6, with Gen 6 technology and built-in instrumentation, helps organizations
achieve greater insight and control so that critical SLAs can be met.
IO Insight monitoring gathers IO statistics, including device latency and IOPS metrics, to
provide intelligence for early detection of application and device-level performance
degradations. If VM Insight capabilities are supported within the ecosystem along with IO
Insight, then individual virtual machine metrics can also be monitored.
Administrators can also use this information to configure policy-based monitoring and
alerting, and set thresholds in order to be alerted if there is a degradation of application or
device-level performance. They can then proactively monitor against SLAs, reduce time to
resolution, obtain crucial insight for troubleshooting, and take action to optimize end-to-end
performance to ensure the highest levels of availability.
IO Insight and VM Insight monitoring enables administrators to achieve the following goals:
Gain deep insights into the performance and availability across physical and virtual
infrastructures
Quickly identify issues and understand key performance, health, and utilization trends
Monitor application flows with no physical taps, no downtime, and no disruption
Ensure that the end-to-end storage infrastructure is tuned to optimize performance and
safeguard operational stability
