• Enterprise-Grade Gen 5 Fibre Channel Director – Brocade DCX 8510-8 Backbone for Scalable SAN Fabrics

    Keywords

    Brocade DCX 8510-8#Brocade DCX 8510-8, Gen 5 Fibre Channel#Gen 5 Fibre Channel, 16 Gbps FC switching#16 Gbps FC switching, storage backbone#storage backbone, SAN scalability#SAN scalability, Fabric Vision technology#Fabric Vision technology, UltraScale ICL#UltraScale ICL, enterprise SAN#enterprise SAN, high-availability switching#high-availability switching

    Description

    The Brocade DCX 8510-8 is a premier 14 U modular backbone delivering Gen 5 Fibre Channel performance for mission-critical storage networks. Featuring eight vertical blade slots, it supports up to 512 ports of 16 Gbps Fibre Channel, enabling an aggregate chassis bandwidth of 8.2 Tbps and frame rates exceeding 420 million fps (docs.broadcom.com).

    Built for non-stop operations, the DCX 8510-8 leverages industry-proven reliability with Hot-swappable power and cooling modules and achieves better than 99.999% uptime in the most demanding data centers. Its support for multiple protocols—2/4/8/10/16 Gbps FC, FICON®, and FCIP—provides maximum flexibility for heterogeneous SAN environments.

    Designed to simplify scale-out SAN architectures, the DCX 8510-8 integrates UltraScale inter-chassis links (ICLs) to connect up to 10 chassis over optical spans of up to 100 meters, reducing cabling by 75% and freeing up to 25% of ports for additional server and storage traffic.

    Key Features

    • Gen 5 Fibre Channel Performance: Up to 16 Gbps per port with line-rate switching

    • High Port Density: Eight blade slots supporting up to 512 16 Gbps ports on the DCX 8510-8

    • Massive Bandwidth: 8.2 Tbps chassis switching capacity and 420 M fps frame processing 

    • Protocol Versatility: Native support for FC, FICON, and FCIP for mainframe and SAN extension

    • Fabric Vision™ Technology: Embedded MAPS, FPI, ClearLink, Flow Vision, and COMPASS for proactive monitoring and analytics

    • UltraScale ICL Connectivity: Mesh or core-edge topologies with optical inter-chassis links up to 100 m

    • Carrier-Class Reliability: >99.999% uptime with redundant power, cooling, and hot-swap blades

    • Modular Form Factor: 14 U (DCX 8510-8) or 8 U (DCX 8510-4) options for large and midsize networks

    Configuration

    Component Specification
    Model Brocade DCX 8510-8 Backbone (14 U modular chassis) (docs.broadcom.com)
    Blade Slots 8 vertical slots (DCX 8510-8) supporting 64-port 16 Gbps FC blades
    Max Ports 512 x 16 Gbps Fibre Channel
    Chassis Bandwidth 8.2 Tbps (full duplex)
    Frame Rate 420 million fps
    Protocols Supported 2/4/8/10/16 Gbps FC, FICON®, FCIP
    Fabric Vision MAPS, FPI, ClearLink Diagnostics, Flow Vision, COMPASS
    ICL Connectivity Up to 100 m optical UltraScale inter-chassis links
    Redundancy Dual power and cooling modules, hot-swap blades

    Compatibility

    The DCX 8510-8 backbone integrates seamlessly with existing Brocade fabrics, supporting both fixed-port and director-class switches. It interoperates with major storage arrays (EMC, NetApp, HPE) and virtualization platforms (VMware, Hyper-V). The backbone’s FICON support enables direct connectivity to IBM Z mainframes, while FCIP facilitates secure SAN extension over IP networks. UltraScale ICLs allow consolidation of multiple chassis for unified SAN fabrics across data halls.

    Usage Scenarios

    Virtualization & Private Cloud:
    Deploy the DCX 8510-8 to build high-density SAN fabrics for VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V clusters. Its low-latency, high-throughput switching accelerates VM migrations, storage vMotion, and containerized workloads, ensuring optimal performance and consolidation.

    All-Flash & Hybrid Storage:
    Leverage Gen 5 Fibre Channel to maximize the performance of all-flash arrays and hybrid storage platforms. The backbone’s high port density and bandwidth enable flash farms with minimal oversubscription, reducing contention in high-IOPS environments.

    Mainframe & Disaster Recovery:
    Connect IBM Z environments via FICON blades for mainframe I/O, while FCIP links provide encrypted, compressed replication to remote sites. The DCX 8510-8’s carrier-class reliability and Fabric Vision analytics ensure continuous data protection and SLA adherence.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Q1: How many chassis can be linked via UltraScale ICLs?
    UltraScale ICLs support mesh or core-edge topologies connecting up to 10 DCX 8510 backbones over optical spans up to 100 m.

    Q2: Can the DCX 8510-8 mix different Fibre Channel speeds?
    Yes; the backbone supports 2/4/8/10/16 Gbps ports concurrently, allowing heterogeneous speed fabrics without additional hardware.

    Q3: What proactive monitoring features does Fabric Vision provide?
    Fabric Vision includes MAPS for policy-based alerts, FPI for latency detection, ClearLink for optical diagnostics, Flow Vision for per-flow analysis, and COMPASS for automated configuration management.

    Q4: Is the DCX 8510-8 suitable for large-scale cloud deployments?
    Absolutely. With 512 ports of 16 Gbps, 8.2 Tbps bandwidth, and non-stop availability, it underpins multi-tenant private clouds and supports high-density virtualization fabrics.

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