Abstract

Modern data centers require storage infrastructure that delivers consistent performance, seamless interoperability, and robust resilience. As organizations deploy increasingly complex applications and workloads, the integration between servers, host bus adapters (HBAs), SAN FC directors, and storage arrays becomes critical to overall system reliability and performance.

Dell commissioned Tolly to evaluate the integrated capabilities of a joint solution featuring Dell PowerEdge 17th Generation servers with the Marvell QLogic QLE2872C 64G FC HBA, Dell Connectrix MDS 9700 Enterprise Directors from Cisco Systems, and a Dell PowerMax 8500 64G storage array. This evaluation focused on demonstrating the "better together" benefits when these Dell, Marvell, and Cisco Systems components are deployed as an integrated 64G FC solution.

Testing demonstrated seamless interoperability across all components with automatic link speed negotiation and LUN discovery without manual intervention, while exhibiting robust resilience during fault scenarios. Advanced congestion management with autonomous mitigation successfully maintained Quality of Service (QoS) during high-utilization periods, providing organizations with a comprehensive 64G FC infrastructure combining proven interoperability, automated resilience, and advanced management capabilities in a unified platform.