New HPE B-series 64Gb FC SANs platform delivers always on foundation of the modern data center

[StorageExperts]

Hewlett Packard Enterprise introduces a new generation of B-series FC SAN technologies approximately once every 4-5 years, addressing evolving data center demands. Let's take a closer look at HPE's 7^th generation of B-series SAN technology to see how this newly launched platform delivers the always-on, do more with less, increasingly autonomous building blocks of a modern data center.

We've been telling our customers and partners for years that IT organizations need to "do more with less." In a world where fewer resources and increased demands are the new normal, IT platforms must deliver resiliency, agility, and simplicity. Still, they must do it with less human intervention than ever before.

Consider a few technology trends from recent years that are changing the technology landscape as we know it. Flash storage is the de facto choice for many data centers worldwide. NVMe storage is becoming more and more common, bringing with it new benchmarks for high performance. Virtual machine densities continue to rise; the pressure to deliver reliable and fast access to data and applications – while ensuring business-critical workloads function correctly – is more significant than ever before. These trends combine to underscore just how important it is to have data paths keep pace and deliver on growing and evolving user expectations.

New HPE B-series Gen7 FC SANsHPE B-series 64Gb  Fibre Channel SAN is much more than speed

The 7^th generation of HPE B-series FC SANs is evolving to keep pace with the demands brought about by new technologies in modern data centers. But, merely providing faster speeds, increased scale, and better performance isn't enough. FC SANs must be optimized to deliver value in new ways that save time, money, and energy with more predictability than ever before. HPE's B-series 64Gb SANs include new automation capabilities and advanced analytics that combine to transform the storage area network into an autonomous SAN.

With this as a backdrop, let's take a closer look at the latest enhancements with HPE B-series 64Gb FC SANs:

HPE B-series 64Gb Fibre Channel SANs are self-learning

HPE B-series 64Gb SANs are "self-learning" and proactively monitor millions of I/O performance data points through their network sensors. These sensors provide insight into the SAN environment and transform the data they gather into actionable intelligence. Thanks to these new self-learning capabilities, network administrators can quickly identify application and device performance across the fabric to understand anything that might compromise the fabric. They can then take corrective action before a performance issue impacts the business.

HPE B-series 64Gb Fibre Channel SANs are self-optimizing

HPE B-series 64Gb SANs utilize the data gathered through self-learning capabilities to self-optimize. By automatically applying priorities for specific data traffic, HPE B-series 64Gb SANs monitor traffic pattern shifts, make smarter decisions on traffic prioritization, adjust to avoid congestion, and guarantee performance levels for both applications and storage workloads.

HPE B-series 64Gb SANs are self-healing

HPE B-series 64Gb SANs automatically mitigate potential performance issues through new self-healing capabilities. If devices or traffic are not functioning correctly, the SAN identifies the issue, correlates the traffic behavior's root cause, then recovers from the problem – but learns to avoid future issues. The SAN will also alert the admin of the issue and set up automatic healing actions, such as failing over to a different path or reverting to an older configuration. 

But there's more…

In addition to new autonomous capabilities, the HPE B-series 64Gb SANs deliver the performance, low latency, and improvements you've come to expect with each new generation of FC products. With HPE B-series 64Gb SANs, you'll get faster data access with 50% lower latency than 32Gb SANs. HPE B-series 64Gb SANs also support 64Gbps line speed with 64Gbps optics, which will become available mid-2021. With three generations of backward compatibility, now is the time to plan for HPE B-series 64Gb and the benefits realized with a 64Gb  autonomous SAN.

Please reach out to your HPE or channel partner contacts to learn more about the exciting new 64Gb Fibre Channel platforms. We are here, as always, as your trusted technology partner to answer questions, show you new capabilities and help you get the most out of your IT investments with leading-edge technologies.

Click here for the latest HPE training on 64Gb FC and the Autonomous SAN, or visit our website to learn more about all the new products launched December 2020!

Meet Around the Storage Block blogger Rob Gee, Product Management, HPE Storage and Big Data.  Rob is the Product Manager for HPE B-series Fibre Channel Switches focused on next generation fibre channel products to support storage and compute connectivity.

Storage Experts
Hewlett Packard Enterprise

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