Best features in my opinion:
- 24 8GB ports
- Fabric OS
- Short-wave and long-wave capabilities
- ISL possibilities with other brands
It has short-wave and long-wave capabilities.
What is most valuable?
How has it helped my organization?
Thanks to the SAN24B, now we can interconnect our hosts with every storage in our SAN, ideal for the virtualization platform we use (VMware), and also interconnect our two sites using its long-range capabilities.
What needs improvement?
This product can improve in the out-of-the-box features; for example, licensing 16 ports instead of 8.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used it for about six years.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
We have not encountered any deployment issues at all.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We have not encountered any stability issues; if you configure this switch using the best practices, you shouldn’t have stability problems.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have not encountered any scalability issues. In fact, this product is intended for scalability.
How are customer service and technical support?
Customer Service:
Customer service is excellent from both sides, IBM and Brocade; 10/10.
Technical Support:Techncial support is excellent from both sides, IBM and Brocade; 10/10.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before IBM/Brocade switches, I use to have Cisco SAN switches. I decided to change brands because Cisco switches are really difficult to administrate, its interface is bad, and the features in IBM/Brocade switches are way better. In my opinion: Brocade for SAN and Cisco for LAN/WAN.
How was the initial setup?
Initial setup was straightforward. In fact, it was easier than other brands' implementations.
What about the implementation team?
I implemented it by myself.
What was our ROI?
ROI is good enough.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
As usual, IBM products are expensive if you compare them with the competition, but usually they are worth it. This is the case.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing this product, we only evaluated Cisco SAN options.
What other advice do I have?
In my experience, it is one of the most reliable options in SAN switches.
Let´s say that the SAN24 is the perfect combination between two great brands (IBM hardware and Brocade´s software).
In my experience, Brocade´s software is the best for SAN implementation; easy to use and intuitive in every aspect.
Brocade is always updating its IOS (operating system), adding new functionalities to its switches and correcting minor errors.
If you add all these things to IBM hardware and support, you can trust that your SAN is going to have near-zero downtime.
