Brocade today announced support for Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Server 2012 server operating system across all product lines, including the company’s Fibre Channel storage area network (SAN) and Ethernet fabric solutions.
Together with Windows Server 2012, Brocade networks aim t simplify operations and management for highly virtualised cloud data centres, which serve as the infrastructure for enterprises and service providers in supporting their key data centre initiatives such as scale-out server virtualisation, private cloud deployments and software-defined networking (SDN).
To ensure compatibility and enable new networking functionality with Windows Server 2012, Brocade has implemented enhancements across its SAN and Ethernet fabric switching and adapter products that help enable new features.
These new features include a Virtual Fibre Channel, Dynamic Circuit Network and Network Virtualisation Using Generic Routing Encapsulation.
The new capabilities aim to offer enterprise IT and cloud providers new storage and networking options that help ensure non-stop operations, increase business agility and optimise application performance.
Brocade also now supports interoperability and integration with Microsoft System Centre 2012. By working closely with the System Centre team to test and build integrations, organisations can easily manage any Brocade network as part of a complete Windows-based cloud environment.
“Windows Server 2012 was built from the cloud up and introduces innovations such as software-defined networking and NVGRE for network virtualisation and isolation to help enable cloud deployments,” said Mike Schutz, General Manager, Windows Server Marketing, Microsoft.
“From the early design stages of Windows Server 2012, Microsoft worked closely with Brocade to give customers new networking technologies such as software-defined networking via NVGRE and virtual Fibre Channel for more dynamic connectivity to storage resources.”
Introduced today, Windows Server 2012 includes the ability to isolate tenants, gain insight into infrastructure resource usage, and provide new services to help create additional revenue streams. It also offers tools to help customers make the transition from on-premises to hosted environments, while continuing to provide the services and reliability demanded by enterprise, mid-market, and small businesses.
“To support next-generation cloud environments, many new networking technologies require support in the operating system to help organisations realise the full benefit of highly virtualised IT architectures,” said Jason Nolet, Vice President, Data Centre Networking Group, at Brocade.
“By working closely with the Microsoft engineering team in the early stages of the new OS’s development, we have ensured that Brocade Ethernet and Fibre Channel fabric solutions work seamlessly with Windows Server 2012 as well as deliver innovative new networking functionality for highly virtualised, cloud-based data centres.”
