Building SANs with Brocade Fabric Switches [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Syngress (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 192899430X | ISBN-13: 978-1928994305 | Publication Date: January 15, 2001 | Edition: 1

The first book to focus on Brocade products - an inovative tecnology company to watch out for!

Brocade Switches provide the intelligent architecture that connects Storage Area Networks (SANs) to Local Area Networks and Wide Area Networks. Brocade switches provide the same functionality to Storage Area Networks as Cisco switches provide to the Internet - Brocade Communications, Inc is the dominant company in this rapidly expanding market.

Building SANs with Brocade Fibre Channel Fabric Switches is written for system administrators who are designing, building, and maintaining Storage Area Networks with Brocade fibre switches. The book provides the reader with all of the techniques necessary to integrate fibre-based switches with an IP-based network.

The first vendor-specific book on configuring industry standard technologies
Practical approach; competitive books are mostly theoretical
IT Professionals must know how to design and build a SAN. Often over 50% of IT budgets are devoted to storage. Fibre-switched SANs are the market standard

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

By combining general information about Storage Area Networks (SANs) with specific information about the SilkWorm line of Fibre Channel switches from Brocade Communications Systems, Building SANs with Brocade Fabric Switches provides great value to information systems engineers interested in planning and implementing network storage solutions. Written in large part by two Brocade engineers--with support from their organization--this book is the definitive one to have if you've chosen a Brocade system, and not a bad choice by any means if you're working with a competitor's equipment. The authors' coverage of Fibre Channel fundamentals (including physical cabling and connectors) is particularly illuminating.

Chris Beauchamp and Josh Judd recognize that building a SAN may be a new kind of project for many of their readers, and so they spend time discussing SANs' goals and the process of discovering user requirements through interviews. They work through the design process from there, showing how to allocate transmission capacity, provision storage space, and decide on a topology. Their teaching technique is a combination of text and prose (like watching a slide show in a conference room) and bright question-and-answer sections that help clarify specific details. There are some command-line listings, as well. Overall, the treatment is comprehensive and a pleasure to absorb. --David Wall

Topics covered: The design and implementation of Storage Area Networks (SANs) via Fibre Channel networks and equipment in Brocade Communications Systems' SilkWorm line. Fibre Channel fundamentals, SAN design goals, the SilkWorm line, the design process, and troubleshooting all are covered well.

Review

"The momentum in the fibre channel infrastructure market is continuing to accelerate as more and more companies establish a networking infrastructure for their storage environments."
-Robert Gray, Research Director, IDC

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Syngress; 1 edition (January 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 192899430X
• ISBN-13: 978-1928994305
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #933,089 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for passing Brocade Certified Exam, August 31, 2004

By 

F. Teoh - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Building SANs with Brocade Fabric Switches (Hardcover)

This book is a primer for passing BCFP and BCSD. It contains very useful information and very readable. With this book and the references below, I was 80% ready for the BCSD exam, the other 20% being work experience.

The other references are from www.BrocadeConnect.com (free access with a sign-in account) :
Home > Technical Resource Center > Documentation Library > Technical "How To" Guides >
The main reference:
* Brocade SilkWorm Design, Deployment, and Management Guide Version 3.0 (PDF, 7.26 MB)

And for those short on experience, it will be useful to comb thru:
# Brocade Guide to Understanding Zoning (PDF, 301.81 KB)
# Brocade PortlogDump Reference Guide Version 1.0 (PDF, 1.71 MB)
# Brocade SilkWorm Multiprotocol Router SAN Design Guide Version 1.0 (PDF, 9.83 MB)
# Cable Management Guidelines Version 1.0 (PDF, 1.49 MB)
# Fabric Watch Guidelines Version 1.0 (PDF, 925.01 KB)
# LAN Guidelines For Brocade SilkWorm Switches (PDF, 920.8 KB)
# Long-distance Technologies for Storage Area Networks Version 2.0 (PDF, 130.1 KB)
# SAN Migration Guide Version 1.1 (PDF, 2.63 MB)
# SAN Security Best Practices Guide (PDF, 6.84 MB)

Having gone thru the experience of going in blindly for the BCSD exam, I thought I would help the initiated by providing more info:
1) There are 65 questions, to be completed within 90 minutes. Honestly I barely have time to finish all. Tip is to skip those you are unsure and return later.
2) The question's format consists of multiple choices, multiple answers, exhibits to click on.
3) I believe you need 70% to pass, at least for my case.
The 4 Sections examined are:
* Define SAN requirements/Interview End User
* Create a successful SAN design to suite requirements
* Implement SAN solutions
* Understand Impact of a SAN design upon Management

Wish y'all all the best :-)

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional book on SANs/Brocade, January 10, 2002

By 

Dale Hill (Tampa, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Building SANs with Brocade Fabric Switches (Hardcover)

This is by far the best book available on SAN design, and it is the only book that goes into specifics on configuring Brocade products, which is incredibly importnat considering their products are the most common. I found the generic SAN stuff increbibly useful and the Brocade specific stuff invaluable. I'm not sure what the 1-star reviews are about. I guess those guys know everything.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You have to own this book if you run a Brocade SANs, June 9, 2003

By 

"longhornjim" (Austin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Building SANs with Brocade Fabric Switches (Hardcover)

All of our field engineers carry a copy of this book. It is straightforward and is really the only resource out there other than the documentation and the Brocade web site.