DELL Brocade M5424 210-39070 Data Sheet

Product codes
210-39070
Page of 4
FLeXIBLe dePLoyMenT 
The Brocade M5424 combines cost-
effective deployment with highly scalable 
Ports on Demand capabilities for up to 24 
8 Gbit/sec Fibre Channel ports. It has a 
minimum of 12 ports enabled and is easily 
expandable to 24 through software license 
upgrade. The Brocade M5424 provides a 
modular “pay-as-you-grow” approach for 
dynamic and expanding environments.
adVanced FaBrIc SerVIceS  
For enTerPrISeS
The Enterprise Performance Pack is optional 
software that adds robust SAN fabric services 
and value for 8 Gbit/sec Brocade fabrics. It is 
available bundled with the Brocade M5424 
or as a standalone option. The software 
package includes:
ISL Trunking: Combines up to eight ISLs 
• 
into a single, logical 64 Gbit/sec trunk  
to optimize performance, bandwidth  
and availability 
Adaptive Networking: Specify traffic flow 
• 
control between individual hosts and 
targets using QoS priorities to improve 
overall SAN performance
Advanced Performance Monitoring: 
• 
End-to-end performance visibility into the 
fabric for more effective design, planning, 
tuning and optimization
Fabric Watch: Health Monitoring and 
• 
proactive notification of changes in fabric 
simplifies failure and disruption detection
Brocade acceSS GaTeWay, 
InnoVaTIVe FLeXIBILITy
The Brocade M5424 can be configured as a 
full-fabric switch or Access Gateway mode. 
Brocade Access Gateway is an innovative 
solution for blade systems to overcome 
heterogeneous network and fabric com-
plexity challenges. Brocade Access Gateway 
leverages N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) 
switch standards to virtualize physical and 
logical devices connected to the SAN fabric.
Interoperability Simplified
Brocade Access Gateway eliminates 
traditional heterogeneous switch-to-switch 
interoperability challenges. It utilizes NPIV  
to present server Fibre Channel connections 
as logical devices directly to SAN fabrics. 
This enables Brocade Access Gateway 
to connect Dell blades to heterogeneous 
NPIV-enabled switches and directors for 
seamless interoperability with Brocade, 
McDATA, Cisco and other SAN fabrics.
Fabric Complexity Simplified
Each Dell M1000e blade enclosure 
connected to a SAN in full-fabric switch 
mode adds two switch domains to the fabric. 
In large fabrics, additional switch domains 
can create complexity and disrupt fabric 
operations during the deployment process. 
To address this challenge, Brocade Access 
Gateway simplifies server-to-SAN connec tivity 
by presenting Fibre Channel connections 
(rather than switch domains) to the SAN 
fabric. In this mode, the Brocade M5424  
is managed as a logical device, elimi nating 
switch configuration and fabric changes. 
By increasing the number of logical device 
ports that can be connected to a single 
fabric port, the Brocade Access Gateway 
enables a much larger fabric with a greater 
number of blade servers and enclosures. 
Unlike Fibre Channel pass-through solutions, 
it can do so without substantially increasing 
the number of switches.
ProducT oPTIonS 
Brocade M5424 Product Configurations
Enterprise 24-Port
Mid-Level 24-Port
Entry-Level 12-Port
Active Ports
24
24
12 (12-port upgrade)
Included Optics
Eight 8 Gbit/sec SFP+
Four 8 Gbit/sec SFP+
Two 8 Gbit/sec SFP+
Adaptive Networking
Included
Optional
Optional
ISL Trunking
Included
Optional
Optional
Advance Performance 
Monitoring
Included
Optional
Optional
Fabric Watch
Included
Optional
Optional