QLogic and channel-friendly Brocade Communications have announced a broad technology alliance agreement to accelerate innovation in storage area networks.
Under the terms of the agreement, QLogic and Brocade will jointly develop capabilities to enhance Fibre Channel technology on an end-to-end basis with improved performance, manageability and reliability for enterprise customers. That means aligning on product plans and testing to accelerate deployment of Gen 5 and Gen 6 Fibre Channel technology. They will also jointly market and evangelize advanced SAN solutions for the next-generation data centers.
“Brocade and QLogic pioneered Fibre Channel and brought SANs into the mainstream enterprise,” said Jack Rondoni, vice president of product management at Brocade. “Both companies have a long history of delivering innovative, high-performance connectivity solutions to address enterprise IT needs, and with this agreement we will accelerate innovation for the next generation of storage networking.”
In connection with the technology and marketing alliance agreement, QLogic also acquired Brocade’s Fibre Channel and converged network adapter business.
“QLogic and Brocade are in a unique position in the industry,” said Amit Vashi, vice president of products, technology and planning QLogic. “Between our two companies, we have the ability to innovate on server, fabric and storage connectivity to deliver end-to-end optimized solutions for our customers. Working together with Brocade will also allow us to accelerate the adoption of new SAN technologies and drive the future of Fibre Channel.”
