Gibraltar™ GS & GL

Overview

Gadzoox^® Networks' Gibraltar™ product line of Fibre Channel hubs, consisting of the Gibraltar GS and the Gibraltar GL, is an integral part of a fully managed Storage Area Network (SAN) infrastructure. Within the framework of a SAN, Gibraltar hubs provide gigabit-speed storage connectivity, network management, data reliability and modular network scalability. With this SAN foundation, the bandwidth, distance and scaling limitations of current bus-based storage architectures are eliminated.

Gadzoox Gibraltar hubs provide modular multi-tiered SAN management solutions resulting in the industry's most comprehensive and robust SAN management. This is achieved through a variety of management modules and downloadable agents. These distributed intelligent agents monitor the SAN, perform automated tasks and intervene when they detect events that can potentially compromise the network reliability, availability and security. These agents can interact with networking devices, storage devices or management applications using either proprietary or open specifications. By distributing the management intelligence among key areas of monitoring and control, our management architecture can provide a wide range of capabilities for virtually every application environment and level of system administration.

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Features

• Choice of 6-port or 12-port configuration options using copper or optical GBICs
• Modular design enables installation and upgrade of management capabilities
• Reflex™ Automatic Port Bypass Ensures Network Integrity
• PerfectPort™ signal retiming and regeneration enables reliable scalability
• Unparalleled Node and Hub Level Management with Gadzoox' Ventana™ SAN Manager

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Flexible Configuration Options

The Gibraltar product line offers the IS professional a choice of configuration options for pay-as-you-grow flexibility in implementing a SAN. Gibraltar uses modular GBICs (Gigabit Interface Converters) for port-to-port selection of a variety of copper or optical media.

Gibraltar hubs are available in 6-port and 12-port manageable versions. The 6-port Gibraltar GL gives customers an economical starting point for satisfying the storage connectivity requirements typical of mid-range departmental servers. The 12-port Gibraltar GS is geared more toward fulfilling the storage capacity and connectivity requirements typical of the high-end enterprise server. In either case, the two versions offer identical enterprise functionality and are completely interoperable and cascadable.

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Enhanced Network Integrity

Gibraltar's Reflex feature ensures data reliability and network continuity even if a port fails or is disconnected. Reflex detects a port failure or disconnection and automatically bypasses the failed port. Reflex then automatically reconfigures the loop to ensure uninterrupted network integrity between all operating devices. Newly connected devices are also automatically detected and registered onto the operating loop without causing disruption to established data paths (see Figure 1).

FIGURE 1
Reflex embedded manageability provides unmatched FC-AL resiliency by preventing invalid nodes from disrupting other devices on the SAN.

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Reliable Scalability

Gibraltar is a product line of fully managed hubs which use Fibre Channel as the transport technology for creating a SAN environment. The combination of Fibre Channel technology with Gibraltar manageability results in an infrastructure with far greater scalability than current storage configurations. Existing bus-oriented SCSI environments have significant limitations in terms of number of devices supported, bus distance restrictions, available bandwidth, and expandability of the wiring plant.

In contrast, Gibraltar hubs can be cascaded, using any of the hub ports, allowing modular growth of the network. The key to being able to reliably deploy multiple cascaded Gibraltar hubs lies in the PerfectPort feature. PerfectPort is a per-port signal regeneration and re-timing feature which ensures the data signal strength and integrity out of and into each Gibraltar port. In this way, even when Gibraltar hubs are cascaded using maximum Fibre Channel copper or optical cabling lengths, integrity characteristics are maintained (see Figure 2).

FIGURE 2
PerfectPort retimes the signal, allowing reliable cascadability between hubs.

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Modular SAN Management

The Gibraltar G-series hubs have two available management modules. The IntraCom™ Management Module (IMM) provides advanced management of the Gibraltar hub-based SAN infrastructure, and the Nomad™ Management Module (NMM) provides comprehensive end-to-end management, including all nodes attached to Gibraltar hubs. Both modules allow for easy installation and upgrade as management requirements grow.

FIGURE 3
Easy-to-install management module.

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Management Module Options

Gibraltar IntraCom Management Module (IMM)

Gadzoox provided the industry's first managed hubs with the introduction of the IntraCom Management Module (IMM). An IMM, once installed in a Gibraltar G-series hub, uses an intelligent agent to discover the SAN devices, display status, environmental information, events, and alerts at the port and hub level. The IntraCom proxy management system uses out-of-band communication that allows master devices to monitor and control cascaded devices without depending on general network availability. This capability helps enable monitoring, control and troubleshooting even when the network is down. Since it is not dependent on the Fibre Channel transport, IntraCom technology provides the most robust and reliable management solution while eliminating the need for independent management connections to every SAN device.

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Gibraltar Nomad Management Module (NMM)

The NMM builds on the capabilities of the IMM, introducing the node agent, which provides an unprecedented level of discovery, monitoring and management of end nodes connected to Gibraltar hubs. The NMM uses in-band discovery (SCSI over Fibre Channel) to collect asset information, monitor the node status and provide an in-depth view of Fibre Channel devices for complete end-to-end SAN management. With the NMM installed, a SAN administrator can discover and manage host-bus adapters, disk drives, tape drives, RAID devices, SCSI targets and initiators, and SES enclosures. The NMM provides this unique capability while maintaining all of the advanced IMM features.

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Graphical User Interface

Ventana SAN Manager is an intuitive, graphical user interface that allows SAN administrators to monitor and control a SAN. Ventana provides a real-time view of the network and allows manual and policy-based control of the network devices and nodes. To assist with rapid trouble-shooting, Ventana provides comprehensive asset management of SAN devices, network diagnostics and traffic analysis, fault isolation, and SNMP alert notification and security.

Refer to the Ventana SAN Manager brochure for a complete description of the Ventana management and GUI capabilities.

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Bit Rate:

2.215 Gigabit, Full Duplex

Data Throughput:

200 MBYTE/SEC, Full Duplex

Number of Ports:

6 or 12

Protocols Supported:

FC-AL, FC-AL-2, FC-PH, FC-PH-2, FC-PH-3, FC-PLDA, FCP, SNMP

Management Access:

RS-232, 10Base-T, Telnet

Proxy Management:

Gadzoox IntraCom

Management Standards:

IETF Fibre Channel MIB

Physical Specifications:

H) 1.66 in/42.2 mm

W) 17.3 in/439.4 mm

D) 17.2 in/435.8 mm

Weight:

Net: 10.5 lbs (4.725 kg)

Environmental Specifications:

Operating Temperature: +10°C to +40°C

Storage Temperature: -30°C to 60°C

Operating Humidity: 20% to 80% Non-Condensing

Electrical Specifications:

AC Voltage: 100-240 VAC.

Power: 3A - 1.5A, 50-60 HZ

Connectivity:

Gibraltar GS: 12-port mixed copper or optical GBIC

Gibraltar GL: 6-port mixed copper or optical GBIC

Safety Compliance:

UL: UL1950, 1995, Third Edition

CSA: CAN/CSA C22.2 No. 950-95, Third Edition

TUV: EN 60950:1992 A1, A2:1993, A3:1995, A4:1997

CB SCHEME: CB Bulletin No. 86A1

EMC Compliance:

CE Emissions Requirements: EN55022:1994 (CISPR 22, Class A)

CE Immunity Requirements: EN55082-1:1992 (IEC801-2:1984, IEC801-3:1984, IEC801-4:1988)

FCC Emissions: FCC Part 15, Subpart B, Class A

Canadian Requirements: ICES-003, Class A

VCCI Certification: VCCI, Class A

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