Trade Group Validates FCoE Interoperability in Multi-Vendor Testing

SAN FRANCISCO, May 20, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Fibre Channel Industry Association (FCIA), a non-profit international organization of manufacturers, systems integrators and vendors, today announced that it successfully completed its second FCoE Plugfest the week of May 12th at the University of New Hampshire Interoperability Lab (UNH-IOL).

Sponsored by the FCIA, leading Fibre Channel vendors worked together to ensure interoperability for the stable FCoE standard. This year's Plugfest provided a forum for testing the interaction of FCoE end devices with data center bridge exchange (DCBx) switches. Participating companies in the Plugfest included Amphenol, Brocade, Cisco Systems, Finisar, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, IXIA, Mellanox, Microsoft, NetApp, QLogic, Tyco Electronics and UNH-IOL.

Bill Martin, FCoE Plugfest chair and engineer consultant for the Office of Technology at Emulex generously offered his time to execute this week's successful Plugfest event. "Adding Converged Enhanced Ethernet capable switches in this Plugfest allowed vendors to validate discovery over an FCoE fabric, priority flow control, separation of Ethernet traffic based on priority, and interoperability with other Ethernet traffic in the same environment. This added testing has allowed the industry to move forward toward quick implementation of an interoperable converged network environment," said Martin.

"This year's FCoE Plugfest was timed appropriately given tough economic times we are facing today - IT decision-makers are looking for savings in numerous areas such as power, space and cooling management while preserving their existing Fibre Channel investments" says Skip Jones, chairman FCIA and director Technology and Planning at QLogic Corporation. "Last week's FCoE Plugfest proved that this new technology is ready for prime time and ready to deliver the cost-savings that customers are looking for and underscores the arrival of a new efficient data center."

Member companies have already delivered or are in product development and gearing to deliver FCoE solutions over the coming months.About FCIA

The Fibre Channel Industry Association (FCIA) is a non-profit international organization whose sole purpose is to act as the independent technology and marketing voice of the Fibre Channel industry. We are committed to helping member organizations promote and position Fibre Channel, and to providing a focal point for Fibre Channel information, standards advocacy, and education.

FCIA members include manufacturers, system integrators, developers, vendors, industry professionals, and end users. Our member-led working groups and committees focus on creating and championing the Fibre Channel technology roadmaps, targeting applications that include data storage, video, networking, and storage area network (SAN) management. For more info, go to http://www.fibrechannel.org.

About the UNH-IOL

Established in 1988, the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) is a non-profit organization that offers comprehensive interoperability and conformance-based testing through 19 technology-based groups, called consortiums. Test solutions created at the UNH-IOL offer a set of methods to increase interoperability through protocol operations, signaling, and point-to-point and multi-system scenarios. For more information, visit the UNH-IOL website at: www.iol.unh.edu.The UNH-IOL also runs the Fibre Channel Consortium, a separate association of companies building new products and interested in testing them on an ongoing basis.