QLogic SANbox 9200 Series
Stackable Modular Fibre Channel Switch - 2 CPU

Overview:

The QLogic Stackable Modular Fibre Channel Switch is ideal for cost sensitive, business-critical, open system environments that require a high-density, high-availability switch platform for their datacenter core. The QLogic 9000 Series pioneers a number of industry firsts: stackable for simple, cost-effective scalability, 4U chassis for smaller footprint, and management tools included at no charge.

The switch scales to 256 Fibre Channel ports in an 8U dual chassis module HyperStack configuration with absolutely no blocking between the two HyperStack modules.

• Performance and reliability of a chassis switch without the high price of a traditional Director switch
• 8Gb, 4Gb or 10Gb blade options
• Enterprise Fabric Suite management
• Industry's only core switch with a compact, 4U chassis
• HyperStack technology brings stackable scalability to core switches
• Included with every switch is a powerful suite of enterprise-class management tools that others charge you for using
• Lower power consumption and smaller rack space footprint

SANbox Product Family

The new look for powerful, easy to manage fabrics
The SANbox 9000 is the flagship in the SANbox line of fabric switches and intelligent storage router platforms. As individual components, every QLogic SANbox part delivers the advantages of a best-in-class, standalone product solution. Working together as an intelligent, integrated network solution under the Enterprise Fabric Suite (EFS) software umbrella, they are easy to deploy and administrator. EFS makes your SAN perform better, too. That's why the entire QLogic SANbox line won the Windows® IT Pro "Readers Choice" award. For your switched Fibre Channel fabric, you can count on QLogic for exactly the right switch…from the core, to the distribution layer, to the edge. For low-cost local and remote server IP network connectivity, QLogic iSRs boost utilization while driving down cost and complexity. Most importantly, you ensure an open environment that can transparently accommodate multiple vendors, new solutions, and future flexibility.

SANbox 9000 Product Overview

HyperStack Architecture
The SANbox 9000 Series stackable chassis switch is a new class of core switch that enables solutions with the 99.999 percent availability, blazing performance, and easy scalability of a Director — but without the large footprint and high TCO.

What makes it all possible is the SANbox 9000 architecture that features:

• HyperStack: Four 200Gb dedicated backplane-to-backplane interconnects between chassis modules
• High Bandwidth Chassis: 1.6Tb of backplane bandwidth for a dual chassis HyperStack configuration
• Redundancy: Redundant CPU, power supply, and fan blades, including the ability to hot-swap replace by a customer
• Compact: Up to 128 ports in only 4U of rack space, 256 ports in 8U-HyperStack
• Ultra-High Availability: Optional fault tolerant transparent CPU failover feature for any SB9200 module

Features and Benefits:

Scalability

• 16 to 128 ports in a single 4U chassis
• 256 ports in a dual-chassis 8U HyperStack™
• Mix and match Fibre Channel I/O blades
  • 8Gb or 4Gb blades for server/storage connections (16 ports each)
  • 10Gb blades for auto-trunking links to other switches (4 ports each)
• Intelligent Storage Router Modules: iSCSI for connecting low-cost servers and FCIP for replicating data across a WAN.

Fault-Tolerance

• Dual CPU option – True director-class redundancy with failover is now affordable for open system SANs. No large edge switch can compare!
• Hot-swappable I/O blades – Easy, non-disruptive expansion and maintenance
• Redundant, hot-swappable power supplies and fans

Low Cost of Ownership

• Pricing begins well under $100K
• 16-port entry point
• More standard features at no charge, fewer software licenses
• Customer Replaceable Units (CRUs) ensure simplicity, economy
• Lower power consumption, smaller rack space footprint, lower weight

Powerful Included Software

• QuickTools™ gets you up and running in minutes.
• Enterprise Fabric Suite™ 2007 helps you set up, monitor, tune, troubleshoot and service an unlimited number of large fabrics.
• Adaptive Trunking, RSCN suppression, Drag-and-drop Zoning Wizard, Extended Distance and more at no extra charge
• Advanced Fabric Security – Protect your data with the right mix of easyto- implement features:
  • User security
  • Connection security
  • Device security

Blazing Performance

• 800-Gbps backplane capacity in a single chassis module or 1.6 Tbps for a dual-module HyperStack.
• Over 2.17 Tbps total system bandwidth with 4Gb blades or 4.35 Tbps with 8Gb blades.
• Industry's lowest latency plus "No-Wait" routing for maximum transaction performance. Powerful embedded CPU and I/O blade ASICs.
• Enables high performance computing, video, and satellite capture data streaming applications

Customer Replaceable Units

• The industry's first stackable chassis switch designed for the convenience, simplicity, and economies of CRUs for key components.
• Redundant, hot-pluggable CPU, power supply, fan, and I/O Blades; Non-Disruptive Code Load and Activation (NDCLA) in support of 24x7 high availability operations.

Ultra-High Availability

• Ensure ultra-high 99.999 percent availability for your missioncritical applications with the optional Fault Tolerant (FT) transparent CPU failover feature for the SB9200 dual-CPU models.

Low Total Cost Of Ownership (TCO)

• All the enterprise-class benefits of a modular chassis switch with revolutionary pricing that starts under $100K.
• Architected for long-term investment flexibility and protection to deliver a previously unachievable reduction in TCO.
• High density FC I/O Blade slots are not sacrificed for IP support. Rather, half-wide 1U SANbox 6000 series intelligent Storage Router (iSR) "modules" are utilized for low density/low cost iSCSI and FCIP ports (see the Storage Routers section at http://www.qlogic.com/Products/SAN_products_storagerouters. aspx).
• For SAN administrators who have invested in multi-vendor fabrics, the SANbox 9000 is interoperable with all FC-SW-2 compliant Fibre Channel Director, Distribution, and Edge Class switches as well as with popular servers, storage, and networking products from major manufacturers.
• Minimize management costs with easy-to-use and comprehensive Command Line Interface (CLI), QuickTools embedded web interface, and Enterprise Fabric Suite 2007 software tools included with every SANbox 9000 switch.
• Take a significant bite out of your operating costs as a result of the SANbox 9000's low power and cooling requirements, minimal footprint, and all-encompassing service plans.

Fabric Management Software:

With wizard-based installation and configuration tools, the SANbox 9000 stackable chassis switch is the easiest to install and easiest to manage core switch on the planet. But for large fabrics where management becomes complicated, the SANbox 9000 series includes a comprehensive and powerful suite of management tools.

For point-and-click management, the tools are accessible from a user-friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI). And for the SAN experts, a comprehensive Command Line Interface (CLI) is available. Plus, integration with your favorite third-party applications is made easy with QLogic SANbox APIs, or the industry-compliant SMI-S agent.

QuickTools is an embedded Java® web applet for device discovery, device management, zoning, and fabric management. A configuration wizard walks users through switch setup and configuration. A zoning wizard provides simple drag-and-drop zoning with fast activation to get the switch ready for immediate use.	Enterprise Fabric Suite 2007 is a suite of tools for setup, configuration, zoning, fabric management, fabric monitoring, performance monitoring, and configuring extended distance capability. Enterprise Fabric Suite 2007 can manage an unlimited number of switches and fabrics from a single console.
Adaptive Trunking guarantees extremely high performance while eliminating the need to manually configure and maintain ISL aggregation groups. Effective ISL routing and utilization is essential to achieving Return on Investment (ROI) in mid- to large-scale SANs. QLogic's Adaptive Trunking comes standard with all SANbox 9000 series switches.	Fabric Security offers the right mix of protection features for user security, connection security, and device security. RADIUS authentication is supported so that separate user names and passwords don't have to be managed. The data path for switch management communication is encrypted using Secure SHell (SSH) for CLI and Secure Socket Layer (SSL) for Enterprise Fabric Suite 2007, QuickTools, and SMI-S. Users can setup device connection security to control what devices have access to the switch. ISL and port authentication is achieved using Fibre Channel-Security Protocol (FC-SP) and DH-CHAP. Additional device authentication is performed using FC-GS-4 CT.
SANdoctor™ provides a comprehensive set of diagnostic tools for troubleshooting fabric problems. FC Ping verifies that a functional path exists between two ports. FC Trace Route displays path information between a source and a destination. Digital Diagnostics Monitoring displays SFP, X2, and XPAK transceiver data to determine if variables are within operational limits.

Diagram:

Open Systems Enterprise

With hundreds of ports, support for solutions that require 99.999 percent availability and 1.6 terabits of bandwidth, the QLogic SANbox 9000 is Designed to the Core for the open systems enterprise.

Designed to the Core for Open Systems

Data center managers in mainframe environments are responsible for connecting large numbers of servers and storage systems. They pay a premium for servers, storage, and Director switches that support proprietary mainframe protocols.

Data center managers in open systems environments also want high availability, high performance, and scalability. However, they expect products built on open standards to be substantially more cost effective: less complex, more flexible, and easier to use.

Reliable, fast, modular, and incredibly cost effective, the QLogic SANbox line of Core-to-Edge fabric switch modules and intelligent storage router modules are Designed to the Core for the open enterprise.

Technical Specifications:

I/O Blades:

Each modular SANbox 9000 chassis features eight slots for any mix of 4Gb, 8Gb, or 10Gb Fibre Channel I/O Blades.

Multiple Technologies — One Modular Architecture

The SANbox 9000 stackable chassis switch gives customers ultimate flexibility to deploy the bandwidth and connectivity configurations that make sense for their environments.

Fibre Channel (FC) I/O Blades

	4Gb FC I/O Blade — 16 Ports x 4Gb Fibre Channel The 4Gb FC Blade includes sixteen 4Gb/2Gb/1Gb auto-sensing Fibre Channel ports. Mix and match any combination of blades for up to 128 ports per chassis module – or 256 ports in a dual-chassis HyperStack.
	8Gb FC I/O Blade — 16 Ports x 8Gb Fibre Channel The 8Gb FC Blade includes sixteen 8Gb/4Gb/2Gb auto-sensing Fibre Channel ports. Mix and match any combination of blades for up to 128 ports per chassis module – or 256 ports in a dual-chassis HyperStack.
	10Gb FC I/O Blade — 4 Ports x 10Gb Fibre Channel The 10Gb FC Blade includes four 10Gb Fibre Channel ports. Configure SANbox 9000 slots with 10Gb FC Blades for high-speed ISL connectivity from the core to the distribution, or edge tiers with SANbox 5000 stackable switches.

iSCSI and FCIP I/O Modules

iSCSI and FCIP I/O Modules — 2 Ports x 1Gb Ethernet + 2 Ports x 2Gb Fibre Channel QLogic has chosen not to sacrifice valuable high-density FC I/O Blade slots for IP support. Instead, external half-wide 1U SANbox 6000 series iSR "modules" are utilized for low-density/low-cost iSCSI and FCIP ports (see http://www.qlogic.com/Products/SAN_products_storagerouters. aspx). Even at 4 + 1 = 5U, the SANbox 9000 Director switch is still the most rack efficient and rack-mount flexible multi-protocol solution in the industry

Extended Distance Donor Buffer Credit Allocation:

• Each 4Gb, 8Gb, or 10Gb port is supported by a data buffer with a 16 credit base capacity (that is, 16 maximum sized frames).
• Longer distances can be spanned at full bandwidth on 1/2/4/8Gb or 10Gb ports by extending buffer credits to G_Ports, F_Ports and E_Ports (per table above).
• Each 1/2/4/8Gb or 10Gb port on an I/O Blade can donate up to 15 of their 16 base buffer credits which a recipient port on the same I/O Blade can borrow.
• The recipient port also loses a single base buffer credit in the process.
• Prerequisite minimum cable lengths apply as well.

16-port 8Gb blades may be ordered separately to supplement the above minimum configurations.

Documentation:

Download the QLogic SANbox 9000 Series Datasheet  (PDF).