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IBM System Storage SAN04B-R multiprotocol router

Designed to interconnect distant SANs via secure Internet Protocol



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Highlights

Designed for high performance with 4 Gigabit per second (Gbps) Fibre Channel (FC) ports and hardware-assisted traffic processing for line-rate performance across Ethernet Internet Protocol (IP) ports
Utilizes existing Internet, IP-based Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) or Wide Area Network (WAN) infrastructures for metro and global SAN extension for business continuity solutions
Enables consolidation of Storage Area Network (SAN) islands for infrastructure simplification without compromising security
Hardware-based compression, large window sizes and selective acknowledgement of IP packets designed to optimize performance of SAN extension over IP networks
Eight virtual FCIP tunnels per IP port are enabled by the High-Performance Extension feature to help maximize scalability and utilization of MAN/WAN resources
Integrated IBM System Storage™ SAN b-type (Brocade) switch management helps simplify installation and administration and helps provide fabric investment protection
FICON® Accelerator uses special emulation techniques to reduce or eliminate degradation for selected applications such as IBM z/OS® Global Mirror (XRC) and tape pipelining

A wide range of IBM System Storage mid-range and enterprise Storage Area Network (SAN) infrastructure simplification and business continuity solutions can be created with the IBM System Storage SAN04B-R multiprotocol router. Infrastructure simplification solutions for the IBM Power Systems™ and System x™ families include disaster tolerance over metropolitan and global IP networks with IBM System Storage disk arrays, tape libraries, and IBM Tivoli® Storage Manager data protection software. Separate SAN islands can also be consolidated using Fibre Channel routing. Support for System z® servers is provided via the optional High-Performance Extension and FICON CUP Activation features.

Local site infrastructure simplification solutions may be extended to one or more remote sites for enhanced data protection and disaster tolerance. The IBM System Storage SAN04B-R multiprotocol router provides Fibre Channel over IP and FCIP Tunneling Service for distance extension, which can enable cost-effective and manageable metro and global business continuity solutions. This extended distance connectivity can help create consolidated remote tape vaulting data protection plus metro mirror and global mirror disk-based, disaster-tolerant solutions.

Since the introduction of Storage Area Networks, customers have built multiple SAN networks (or islands) for different applications, often with fabric switch components from different manufacturers. Some islands were built by different departments within a company, while other islands resulted from mergers, acquisitions or reorganizations. Dissimilar SAN equipment with different capabilities or a desire to isolate important applications has constrained opportunities for enhanced infrastructure simplification and vital business continuity solutions.

The IBM System Storage SAN04B-R multiprotocol router can provide Fibre Channel FC-FC Routing Service, which allows the interconnection of multiple SAN islands without requiring that the separate fabrics be merged into a single large SAN. This capability can help create a tiered or extended enterprise SAN infrastructure without having to redesign or reconfigure the entire environment.

Common features		Hardware summary

Designed for high performance with 4 Gigabits per second (Gbps) Fibre Channel (FC) ports and hardware-assisted traffic processing for line-rate performance across Ethernet Internet Protocol (IP) ports. Can utilize existing Intranet, IP-based Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) or Wide Area Network (WAN) infrastructures for metro and global SAN extension for business continuity solutions. Integrated IBM System Storage SAN b-type (Brocade®) switch management helps simplify installation and administration and helps provide fabric investment protection.		1U 19" packaging designed for rack-mount or table-top. Designed for high-performance with 4 Gigabit per second (Gbps) fibre channel ports and 50 Megabits per second (Mbps) Ethernet ports. The optional High-Performance Extension feature increases the speed of each Ethernet port to 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps). Supports 4, 2 and 1 Gbps FC link speeds. Speed auto-sensing capabilities provide backward compatibility with 2 and 1 Gbps fibre channel links. Shortwave and longwave SFPs can be intermixed in the same router to meet unique requirements. Full Fabric operation and Universal Port Operation are available on all ports. Optional Inter Switch Link (ISL) Trunking is supported on all active ports. Hardware-based compression. Extensive buffering. Hierarchical routing services. SAN isolation from Internet, Wide Area Network (WAN) or Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) failures. Scalable remote-site fan-in. Hardware-based encryption. Write acceleration for fast replication performance. Optional FICON with CUP and FICON Accelerator enable support for enterprise-class environments.