HPE C8S45A Brocade 16Gb/16 Embedded FC SAN Switch
Overview
The HPE C8S45A is a high-performance, embedded Fibre Channel SAN switch designed specifically for the HPE BladeSystem c-Class enclosure. It provides a streamlined, high-bandwidth storage networking solution for enterprises deploying blade infrastructures. This switch is engineered to solve the challenge of connecting blade servers to a centralized SAN fabric without the complexity and cost of external switches, cabling, and numerous optical transceivers. At its core, the switch delivers 16 Gb/s Fibre Channel performance across a non-blocking architecture, ensuring line-rate throughput for demanding workloads. Its standout feature is the ability to aggregate up to eight SAN ports into a single logical Inter-Switch Link (ISL) trunk. This delivers a balanced, high-bandwidth connection of up to 128 Gb/s to the core of the SAN, which is critical for preventing I/O bottlenecks in highly virtualized environments and for I/O-intensive applications. Physically, the C8S45A hot-plugs directly into the interconnect bays of an HPE BladeSystem c-Class chassis. This “zero-footprint” design significantly reduces rack space, power consumption, and cooling requirements. Management is unified within the BladeSystem ecosystem, integrating with tools like HPE Onboard Administrator and HPE Systems Insight Manager for simplified administration and a single point of control over the blade infrastructure.
Key Features
- Sixteen active 16 Gb/s Fibre Channel ports enabled.
- Features a non-blocking architecture up to 896 Gb/s.
- Auto-sensing ports for 4, 8, or 16 Gb/s connectivity.
- Integrates with HPE Onboard Administrator for management.
- Supports ISL trunking for high-bandwidth uplinks.
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