Demartek Evaluation: Simplifying EMC Isilon Deployment with Brocade VCS

6 September 2016

New trends in storage technology and implementation are changing how storage is delivered to clients. These trends include automated provisioning, which has the potential to greatly improve operational simplicity. However, every IT manager knows that automating a single part of a system will only move operational bottlenecks. The entire system must be designed with this principle in mind to achieve the desired outcome. Modern storage solutions have shifted much of the automation bottleneck over to the network.

EMC Isilon is a leading example of a multipurpose storage solution that businesses rely on for file, application, and data lake storage services. Rapidly changing business requirements are served by responsive automation on the Isilon NAS device, but without equally responsive network automation and operational simplicity, the storage system advantages may not be realized to their full capacity.

Fortunately, options now exist for automated networks to accelerate deployments of scalable IP storage solutions. The results presented in this report highlight the differences between Brocade’s implementation of Brocade VCS fabric and a Cisco Nexus IP storage network in a standard leaf-spine topology. We demonstrate the significantly reduced complexity of the Brocade technology and the advantages that it brings to the network and the datacenter. Deploying Brocade switches in a Brocade VCS fabric takes just a handful of easy to understand commands. Similar Cisco Nexus configurations are four times more complex to implement.

View the Demartek Evaluation: Simplifying EMC Isilon Deployment with Brocade VCS
(PDF, 395 KB)