Storage networking switch manufacturer Brocade has released updated products for Storage Area Networks (SANs). Brocade released to its OEM partners the Brocade Fabric Operating Environment, which includes significant new features and capabilities for the Brocade Fabric OS and fabric management tools. According to the company, the software release offers the industry's first fabric-based SAN security, enhanced SAN-management tools, and new high-availability and connectivity features. Brocade's partners will offer the Brocade Fabric OS to its customers worldwide. Brocade partners include Dell, EMC, Hitachi Data Systems (HDS), Hewlett-Packard (HP), IBM, Network Appliance (NetApp), StorageTek, and Sun Microsystems.
One feature of the new environment is Secure Fabric OS, which integrates the security features of IP networking with the security requirements of SANs. The Secure Fabric OS lets you centrally manage SAN security policies for management and device access. Secure Fabric OS provides security by using digital certificates and digital signatures, multiple levels of password protection, encryption of management information, public key infrastructure (PKI)-based authentication, and 1024-bit encryption of the switch's private key for digital signatures. Brocade has also updated and enhanced many of the management features in its OS and software management tools.
