Ixia Adds Fibre Channel Interface to its Data Center Tests

Ixia introduced a native Fibre Channel test solution offering selectable 2/4/8 Gbps native Fibre Channel ports — up to 96 ports per chassis. The native Fibre Channel interface combined with Ethernet interfaces enables the Ixia testing solution to evaluate Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) switches, converged network adapters (CNAs) and SAN controllers. The FCoE testing could be used by network equipment manufacturers (NEMs), enterprise data centers, information and storage service providers as they bring this new data center technology to market. Testing networks using a mix of Ethernet, fibre channel, and FCoE technologies is critical to the timely deployment of converged network products and services.

Ixia’s converged data center test solution now includes both FCoE and Fibre Channel interfaces, converged traffic performance tests, and real I/O performance testing. Ethernet interfaces can operate at speeds from 1 and 10 Gbps, while the Fibre Channel interface module’s 4 or 8 port variants can be dynamically programmed to 2, 4, or 8 Gbps. Ixia’s solution includes IxANVL, IxNetwork, and IxSAN test applications that utilize the same hardware platform:

• IxANVL validates device conformance to FCoE protocols, including FIP and DCBX.
• IxNetwork offers performance testing over Ethernet, FCoE, and fibre channel connections by emulating large-scale network environments, allowing end-to-end testing of converged FCoE switches, CNAs, and other mixed protocol devices.
• IxSAN is a complete SAN test solution, with real-world, large-scale emulation of fibre channel protocol (FCP) targets and initiators over Ethernet, allowing true characterization of I/O performance of converged network systems.

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