SAN Design: March 29, 2001 3:18 pm
53-0001575-01 BROCADE Technical Note Page: 15 of 31
FIGURE 11. Star Topologies shown with 2x16 port switch at the core and with 4x16 port switch at the core
Brocade has tested and validate star SAN designs today with our SilkWorm 2800 16 port switch. The two core switch topology
shown in Figure 5 is a very good typical SAN design that can support many network storage applications. There is a maximum port
count available of 224 ports. No more than two hops from any device to any device in the network. Equal cost paths for all devices
in the network meaning the fabric can load balance on initialization. The four switch core version retains many of the same benefits
for a maximum of 192 ports. The benefit of this design is added equal costs paths via the core to improve data throughput via the
core.
2.8.2 DESIGN CRITERIA/TESTED AND SUPPORTED CONFIGURATIONS:
•Maximum of 20 switches in Star topology
•Maximum of 4 switches in the core, 16 port
•Dual connections to core from edge switches allow for single switch core failure with no loss of connectivity
•Maximum port count of 224; 192 with 4 switch core
•Fewer switches can be used and the SAN can “grow” to maximum configuration