Brocade Communications Systems VDX 6940 Datasheet
DATA SHEET
Brocade VDX 6940 Switches
Advanced Features Enable Data Center Transformation
The data center is evolving, driving requirements for infrastructure that
can support dynamic growth in Virtual Machines (VMs), distributed
applications, and Big Data, as well as the transition to cloud-based
computing—without compromising performance. The Brocade® VDX®
6940 and the Brocade VDX family of switches deliver the performance,
exibility, scale, and eciency essential to modern data centers, including
cloud and highly virtualized environments.
HIGHLIGHTS
Transforms networks to deliver cloud
•
scale, agility, and operational eciency
with Brocade data center fabrics
Oers the market’s highest 10, 40, and
•
100 GbE density in a xed form factor
Meets today’s application demands with
•
high performance and low latency
Delivers line-rate throughput for all ports
•
and packet sizes
Fits into any data center design by
•
leveraging 40 GbE/100 GbE uplinks
and Ports on Demand (PoD)
Maximizes network availability with
•
eciency and resiliency
Supports storage environments with
•
advanced exibility
Optimizes Scale-Out
Architecture
Brocade VDX switches are designed
to help organizations stay ahead of
application-driven network change by
enabling agile growth through a scaleout architecture. This approach oers
three key benets. First, it enables
network expansion as a business grows
over time. Data center administrators
can horizontally scale spine switches as
the number of leaf switches increases.
Second, scale-out architecture also
enables the creation of resilient network
fabrics, eliminating a single point of failure
and potential downtime. Third, and most
important, scale-out network architecture
delivers a compelling economic benet.
Unlike scale-up, a scale-out model
reduces upfront investment. And by using
high-density xed switches, it lowers the
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), reducing
power, cooling, and data center space.
Brocade VDX 6940 Switches
The Brocade VDX 6940-36Q is a xed
40 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE)-optimized
switch in a 1U form factor. It oers
36 40 GbE QSFP+ ports and can be
deployed as a spine or leaf switch (see
Figure 1). Each 40 GbE port can be
broken out into four independent
10 GbE SFP+ ports, providing a total of
144 10 GbE SFP+ ports. Deployed as
a spine, it provides options to connect
either 40 GbE or 10 GbE uplinks from
leaf switches. By deploying this highdensity, compact switch, data center
administrators can reduce their TCO
through savings on power, space,
and cooling.
In a leaf deployment, 10 GbE and
40 GbE ports can be mixed, oering
exible design options to cost-eectively
support demanding data center and
service provider environments. As
in other Brocade VDX platforms, the
Brocade VDX 6940-36Q oers a Ports
on Demand (PoD) licensing model.
Brocade VDX 6940-36Q is available
with 24 ports or 36 ports. The 24-port
model oers a lower entry point for
organizations that want to start small
and grow their networks over time. By
installing a software license, organizations
can upgrade their 24-port switch to the
maximum 36-port switch.
Figure 1: The Brocade VDX 6940-36Q Switch
provides 36 40 GbE ports.
The Brocade VDX 6940-144S is a
10 GbE-optimized switch with 40 GbE
or 100 GbE uplinks in a 2U form factor.
It oers 96 native 1/10 GbE SFP/SFP+
ports and 12 40 GbE QSFP+ ports, or
4 100 GbE QSFP28 ports. In addition,
the Brocade VDX 6940-144S provides
exibility for uplinks, 40 GbE or 100 GbE
from leaf switches, and delivers greater
cross-sectional bandwidth for east-west
trac. Purpose-built for scale-out data
centers and service providers, it enables
aggregation of multiple server racks with
a single switch.
With its high density, the Brocade
VDX 6940-144S is an ideal t for
middle-of-row or end-of-row data
center deployments (see Figure 2). By
connecting multiple racks to a single
cut-through switch, this architecture
oers greater cross-sectional bandwidth
for applications. Servers from multiple
racks can be just one hop away from
one another. The compact 2U form
factor saves space, also reducing power
and cooling, resulting in lower TCO.
Brocade VDX 6940 Switches provide
the advanced feature set that data
centers require while delivering the high
performance and low latency virtualized
environments demand. Together with
Brocade data center fabrics, these
switches transform data center networks
to support the New IP by enabling cloudbased architectures that deliver new levels
of scale, agility, and operational eciency.
These highly automated, software-driven,
and programmable data center fabric
design solutions support a breadth of
network virtualization options and scale
for data center environments ranging from
tens to thousands of servers. Moreover,
they make it easy for organizations to
architect, automate, and integrate current
and future data center technologies
while they transition to a cloud model
that addresses their needs, on their own
timetable and on their terms.
Figure 2: The Brocade VDX 6940-144S
Switch provides 96 1/10 GbE ports and
12 40 GbE or 4 100 GbE ports.
Transforms Networks to Deliver
New Levels of Scale, Agility, and
Operational Eciency
Brocade VDX switches enable
organizations to evolve their data center
networks at their own pace, with full
investment protection. As the foundation
for several data center architectures,
Brocade VDX switches support Brocade
IP fabrics, Brocade VCS® fabrics, as
well as network virtualization, including
controller-based network virtualization
architectures, such as VMware NSX,
and standards-based (BGP-EVPN)
controller-less architectures with Brocade
BGP-EVPN Network Virtualization for
architectural exibility (see Figure 3).
For organizations seeking automated
provisioning capabilities to improve IT
agility, Brocade VDX switches, together
with Brocade VCS Fabric technology,
accelerate time to value through
automated provisioning of network
devices and network virtualization.
Automated service and resource upgrades
further reduce ongoing maintenance time
and costs. High availability is achieved
through non-disruptive In-Service
Software Upgrade (ISSU) and self-healing
fabrics.
Read more about Brocade data center
fabrics.
Organizations that aim to automate the
entire network lifecycle and integrate with
cross-domain technologies to improve
business agility—but lack sucient
engineering resources or training—can
transform their networks with Brocade
Workow Composer™. Brocade Workow
Composer supports the Brocade VDX
platform, enabling enterprise and cloud
service provider IT organizations to bring
network automation to IT operations
(see Figure 4). Unlike other network
automation solutions that require
proprietary hardware platforms and focus
solely on conguration management,
Brocade Workow Composer provides
turnkey, customizable, or do-it-yourself
network workow automation for
provisioning, validation, troubleshooting,
and remediation of the entire Brocade
VDX platform—while integrating with
tool chains and processes from other IT
domains. Brocade Workow Composer
is powered by StackStorm, an open,
extensible, and microservices-based
framework that leverages the power
of proven DevOps methodologies;
popular open source technologies such
as Puppet, Python, and Mistral; and a
thriving technical community for peer
collaboration and innovation to provide
event-driven, cross-domain workow
automation.
Additionally, Brocade VDX switches oer
programmability and interoperability
options through a PyNOS Library and
YANG model-based REST and Netconf
APIs. Cloud orchestration and control
2
Brocade Data Center Fabrics and Network Virtualization Options
Layer 2 Scale-Out: Up to 10,000 Servers
Controller-based Network Virtualization
(VMware NSX,
VxLAN
)
OVERL
A
Y
VDX
VDX
VDX
VDX
VDX
VDX
VDX
VDX
VDX
VDX
VDX
VDX
Controller-less
Network Virtualization
(BGP-EVPN, VxLAN)
VDX
UNDERLAY
Figure 3: Multiple network architectures oer the exibility that can help organizations rapidly adapt to changing business conditions and trac patterns.
through OpenStack and OpenDaylightbased SDN controller support enable
full network integration with compute
and storage resource provisioning and
management.
VDX
and 100 GbE uplinks can easily aggregate
high-bandwidth trac and reduce
bottlenecks that occur when aggregating
multiple 10 GbE or 40 GbE connections,
keeping data center networks working at
OVERLAY OPTIONS
UNDERLAY
Layer 3 Scale-Out: Up to 500,000 Servers
peak performance.
Meets Today’s Application
Demands with High Performance
and Low Latency
As data centers virtualize more of their
servers and VM density per server
increases, organizations will require
higher bandwidth connectivity to support
the explosion of data and application
processing. With 1/10 GbE and
40 GbE options, Brocade VDX 6940
Switches deliver the high-performance
computing needed to keep up with
the demands of a virtualized data
center, allowing organizations to reduce
network congestion, improve application
performance, and meet the capacity
required by 10 GbE servers. The 40 GbE
In a Brocade VCS fabric, Brocade VDX
6940 Switches also help maximize
network utilization with hardware-based
Brocade ISL Trunking. Organizations
can create a 120 GbE Brocade ISL
trunk by utilizing three 40 GbE ports
or 12 10 GbE ports between Brocade
VDX 6940 Switches. The Brocade ISL
trunk is automatically formed between
two Brocade VDX switches when they
are linked together, allowing trac to be
equally distributed among all ports. This
increases link eciency and limits trac
disruptions, especially during high-trac
times. Also, 40 GbE and 10 GbE trunking
is supported between Brocade VDX
OR
6940, 6740, and 8770 Switches. Refer
to the
Brocade VDX 6940 Hardware
Reference Manual
Brocade VDX 6940 Switches oer a
unique balance between two conicting
attributes—buer and latency. Niche
products with very high buer often suer
from high latency, and products with
ultra-low latency are not a good t for
data centers with bursty trac. Brocade
VDX 6940 Switches, with a purpose-built
data center chip, excel in optimizing buer
and latency to deliver better application
performance. These switches deliver
800 ns any-port-to-any-port latency. In
addition, they oer an industry-leading
24 MB deep buer. This provides the
buering capacity to handle increases in
trac, especially during peak times when
ports are congested, allowing trac to be
distributed across the ports. Brocade VDX
6940 Switches also feature a single ASIC
Controller-based
Network Virtualization
(VMware NSX, VxLAN)
for details.
3
Workflows
Visual Flow
Web GUI
CLI
ChatOps
User
I
nterfaces
Composable
S
ervices
Credential /
Authorization
Workflow
Engine
Device
Inventory
Data Store
Message Bus
Rules
Engine
REST API
Sensors /
A
ctions
Sensor
Sensor Action Action
Systems Devices Tools
Figure 4: Brocade Workow Composer brings workow-centric, cross-domain network automation to IT operations.
Audit
design, instead of multiple ASIC designs
commonly found in other switches. This
improves performance since all ports
communicate via the one ASIC.
Cloud and Big Data Environments
Brocade VDX 6940 Switches deliver
optimized buer and latency and high
performance to enable greater crosssectional bandwidth for east-west trac—
exactly what cloud workloads demand.
These switches oer the exibility needed
to scale out networks, deliver intelligence
to more eectively manage VM mobility,
as well as provide an SDN-enabled and
programmable infrastructure. In addition,
Brocade VDX 6940 Switches oer an
advanced feature set that non-virtual and
Big Data environments require. With 10,
40, and 100 GbE options for designing
oversubscribed or non-oversubscribed
networks, high throughput, and optimized
buer and latency, the Brocade VDX
6940 is an ideal switch for Big Data
applications. Together with Brocade
data center fabrics, Brocade VDX 6940
Switches can simplify network design and
operations for both cloud and Big Data
network fabrics.
Fits into Any Data Center Design
Brocade VDX 6940-36Q and
6940-144S front access ports are
positioned to enable easy server or switch
connectivity and to simplify cabling.
With a choice of front-to-back or backto-front airow, these switches are ideal
for deployments connecting servers,
storage, and other switches, as well as
for providing compatibility for either hot
aisle or cold aisle data center designs.
For the 40 GbE ports that also support
10 GbE connections with breakout cables,
the switches oer the exibility needed
to support a mixed environment as data
centers or service providers transition to
higher bandwidth.
Brocade VDX 6940 Switches are
designed to connect data centers in
multiple ways to meet individual design
requirements. This exible design
provides investment protection, giving
organizations a single switch that can
support varying data center requirements.
The following features help organizations
meet their evolving needs:
10/40/100 GbE uplinks: The 40 GbE
•
QSFP+ ports oer the exibility to
expand and interconnect the network
infrastructure intelligently and eciently
while reducing bottlenecks. Brocade
VDX 6940 Switches oer the option
4
to separate each 40 GbE uplink into
four 10 GbE uplinks via breakout
cables. As capacity and need increase,
organizations can revert to 40 GbE
when ready.
Ports on Demand: Ports on Demand
•
(PoD) enables organizations to activate
additional ports. They can purchase
the number of ports that they currently
need and seamlessly scale up later by
simply applying a software license. This
exible and cost-ecient “pay as you
grow” licensing model solves scalability
challenges by allocating IT resources
as needed.
Maximizes Network Availability
with Eciency and Resiliency
Brocade data center fabrics create a
more ecient and resilient network, and
deliver the high performance and high
reliability required by modern data
centers, including cloud and highly
virtualized environments.
Optimizing East-West Trac
Traditional data centers are architected
with a rigid, three-tier tree topology
optimized for the north-south trac ow
of client-server computing environments,
compromising performance, increasing
latency, and creating bottlenecks. With
the increased prevalence of virtualization
and distributed applications, data center
network trac is now predominantly
east-west, or server-server. Brocade
data center fabrics were designed and
optimized to address these trac patterns
by moving trac through any of the active
paths and avoiding the multiple hops
required in other tiered topologies.
In-Service Software Upgrade
The Brocade VDX 6940 delivers a highly
ecient In-Service Software Upgrade
(ISSU) by leveraging a software model
that uses a dual-OS infrastructure on a
multi-core CPU. This enables data center
administrators to deliver enterprise-class
business continuity on xed switches
during a software upgrade/downgrade
process. This software change process is
non-disruptive to Layer 2, Layer 3, Fibre
Channel, and Fibre Channel over Ethernet
(FCoE) trac. Moreover, the ISSU
implementation is hardware-optimized,
thus reducing the time it takes to complete
the upgrade/downgrade process.
Advanced Storage Support
Brocade VDX 6940 Switches provide
advanced storage support with multiple
storage connectivity options, including
FCoE, iSCSI, and NAS. They also feature
Data Center Bridging (DCB), which
enables the reliable exchange of storage
trac over the LAN, eliminating packet
loss when network congestion occurs and
allocating bandwidth as needed to keep
the network running eciently. Moreover,
Brocade VDX 6940 Switches oer
NAS Auto QoS intelligence to prioritize
delay-sensitive IP storage trac within
the fabric and to help ensure consistent
performance while decreasing latency.
Brocade Global Services
Brocade Global Services has the
expertise to help organizations build
scalable, ecient cloud infrastructures.
Leveraging 20 years of expertise in
storage, networking, and virtualization,
Brocade Global Services delivers
world-class professional services,
technical support, and education
services, enabling organizations to
maximize their Brocade investments,
accelerate new technology deployments,
and optimize the performance of
networking infrastructures.
Acquisition Options That Match
Balance Sheet Objectives
Successful network deployments drive
business forward, providing technical
and nancial agility. Brocade oers
the broadest nancing models, from
traditional leasing to Brocade Network
Subscription. Network-as-a-Service
allows organizations to subscribe to
network assets today then upgrade
on demand, scale up or down, or return
them with 60-day notication. Brocade
Network Subscription plans can be
structured to meet IASC guidelines
for OpEx or CapEx treatment to align with
nancial goals. Learn more at
www.nonetworkcapex.com.
Maximizing Investments
To help optimize technology investments,
Brocade and its partners oer complete
solutions that include professional
services, technical support, and education.
For more information, contact a Brocade
sales partner or visit www.brocade.com.
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