• Enables consolidation of Storage Area Network (SAN) islands for infrastructure simplification without compromising security
• Designed for high performance with 4 Gigabit per second (Gbps) Fibre Channel (FC) ports and hardware-assisted traffic processing for line-rate performance across Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) Internet Protocol (IP) ports

Utilizes existing IP Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) or Wide Area Network (WAN) infrastructures for metro and global SAN extension for business continuity solutions 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 help maximize scalability and utilization of MAN/WAN resources

Integrated router and IBM System Storage SAN b-type (Brocade) switch management helps simplify installation and administration and helps provide fabric investment protection

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 SAN18B-R multiprotocol router. Infrastructure simplification solutions for the IBM System i, System p and System x family include SAN island consolidation, while business continuity solutions 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.

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 SAN18B-R multiprotocol router provides 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.

Local site infrastructure simplification solutions may be extended to one or many remote sites for enhanced data protection and disaster tolerance. The IBM System Storage SAN18B-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.

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