topic Re: Nimble Compatibility for: Brocade VDX 6730 in Array Setup and Networking

Nimble Compatibility for: Brocade VDX 6730

abraham31 — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 12:57:37 GMT

kindly could you let me know if Nimble can work with Brocade VDX 6730 - switch - 16 ports - managed - rack-mountable. We have proposed a CS220G Array.

Re: NIMBLE COMPATIBILITY FOR Brocade VDX 6730 - switch - 16 ports - managed - rack-mountable

rfenton4 — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 15:22:37 GMT

Hey Abraham,

We don't specifically have a support matrix for IP switches (unlike Fibre Channel where compatibility matrixes are essential).

We do specify some guidelines when selecting a switch. That is available on the Networking Best Practices document which is available off InfoSight.

http://www.nimblestorage.com/docs/downloads/bpg_nimble_storage_networking.pdf

Generally though - you should look for these qualities in your switch:

Non blocking backplane (ie, 16 ports at 1GbE Full duplex will be a back place support of 32Gigabits per second)
Support for Flow Control (802.3x)
Buffers per port (a minimum of 512K buffers per port)
Support for Jumbo Frames
Ability to Disable Unicast Storm Control

I personally haven't had too much experience with Brocade IP switches (that shouldn't be read a good or a bad thing!!) - hopefully someone can chime in on the thread to share their experience. I have seen some internal chat we've had on them and they seem good switches (just ensure you have an appropriate number of ports licenses and use brocade cables - which based on my experience would good advice to apply to HP and Cisco too !!).

Hope this helps

Rich

Re: Nimble Compatibility for: Brocade VDX 6730

sgalbincea137 — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 16:45:52 GMT

We just implemented a pair of CS460 arrays backed by a pair of Brocade VDX 6740s and it is working very, very well. VCS mode is amazing, and a huge time saver. My only specific advice would be to use Brocade branded Twin-Ax cables for your connectivity between the SAN and the switches.

Re: Nimble Compatibility for: Brocade VDX 6730

rdinkel77 — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 20:59:14 GMT

Personally, I would not buy the Brocade VDX 6730. I would buy the VDX 6740 instead.

The VDX 6730 will be end of sale soon and your Brocade sales rep should be able to get the price down enough to match the 6730's price. The default config of the VDX 6740 is 24 ports on out of 48 ports.

We have had zero issues with HP Branded TwinAx cables going from our VDX 6740 to the Nimble Arrays.

Re: Nimble Compatibility for: Brocade VDX 6730

abraham31 — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 08:44:50 GMT

Thank you for thisnote

Kind regards

Abraham George Parel – CEO

+27 761 052885 - <http://www.virtualworksafrica.com/> www.virtualworksafrica.com

Re: Nimble Compatibility for: Brocade VDX 6730

abraham31 — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 08:46:02 GMT

THANK YOU!

Kind regards

Abraham George Parel – CEO

+27 761 052885 - <http://www.virtualworksafrica.com/> www.virtualworksafrica.com