IBM RedBooks SAN24B-5 - Key Features; Architecture and Key Components

IBM System Networking SAN24B-5 Switch 2
Key features
The SAN24B-5 features advanced monitoring, diagnostics, reliability, availability, serviceability and
redundancy capabilities in an entry-level switch to maximize availability, optimize performance, and
simplify administration. Enterprise-class features include the following items:
Critical diagnostic and monitoring capabilities to help ensure early problem detection and recovery
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Non-intrusive and nondisruptive monitoring on every port to provide a comprehensive end-to-end
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view of the entire fabric
Forward error correction to recover from bit errors in inter-switch links (ISLs), enhancing transmission
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reliability and performance
Additional buffers to overcome performance degradation and congestion due to buffer credit loss
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Real-time bandwidth consumption by hosts and applications on ISLs to easily identify hot spots and
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potential network congestion
A second power supply to enable dual power redundancy and enhance availability
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Architecture and key components
The SAN24B-5 delivers industry-leading Gen 5 Fibre Channel technology within a flexible, simple, and
easy-to-use solution. The base configuration includes 12 activated ports, with up to 24 ports on demand.
In addition to providing best-in-class scalability, the SAN24B-5 is easy to deploy with the EZSwitchSetup
wizard and the ClearLink diagnostic ports (D
_
Ports) feature, which simplifies setup.
The 24 ports produce an aggregate 384 Gbps full-duplex throughput; any eight ports can be trunked for
128 Gbps ISLs. Exchange-based dynamic path selection optimizes fabric-wide performance and load
balancing by automatically routing data to the most efficient and available path in the fabric, as shown in
Figure 2.