NetApp Supports FCOE

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) today announced that it will be the first storage vendor to offer native Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) SAN storage solutions. FCoE support extends NetApp’s unified storage architecture, enabling customers to address changing business needs and opportunities with flexible data access across all protocols. NetApp has been an active participant in the development and ecosystem coordination of the FCoE standard, which achieved another important milestone recently as it moved from the development phase to the review phase within the T11 standards body.

As a leader in Ethernet storage, NetApp offers Ethernet-based storage solutions that provide data center customers with increased performance capabilities and the ability to more easily scale their IT infrastructure in virtual environments. FCoE extends Fibre Channel into the Ethernet environment, combining two leading technologies to provide customers with more options for SAN connectivity and networking. As a result, customers benefit more from streamlined IT operations and higher staff productivity. With its support of FCoE as part of its unified storage architecture, NetApp will also enable its customers to be better prepared to adapt to their ever-changing business and IT needs. The unified architecture allows customers to take advantage of the same software and management tools for both Fibre Channel SAN and FCoE for increased flexibility and ease of use.

NetApp’s support of data networking products from partners such as Cisco, Emulex, and QLogic enhances the company's ability to provide customers with the networking technologies needed to augment their data centers. These data networking solutions allow NetApp customers to consolidate their data centers, protect their existing SAN investments, and transition their SAN infrastructure over time. By simplifying the data center, customers will be able to lower their power and cooling requirements for increased efficiency. In addition, NetApp announced today its support of the Cisco Nexus 5020 switch, which enhances NetApp’s ability to provide customers with a simplified data center infrastructure and further bolsters its lineup of Fibre Channel solutions. The Nexus 5000 series is designed for data centers making the transition to 10-Gigabit Ethernet as well as for those ready to deploy a unified fabric. The Nexus 5020 switch will be available in November.

“Cisco shares NetApp’s goals to deliver storage networking solutions that improve business agility and reduce both cost and power consumption,” said Jackie Ross, vice president of Marketing in Cisco’s Server Access and Virtualization business unit. “FCoE and a unified fabric for the data center are key technologies that will help our customers to create next-generation data centers that are agile, resilient, and more productive.”

NetApp Inc. (Nasdaq: NTAP)