A small problem at a vendor, can cause a big headache for NAS and SAN customers.

When a critical part of your data infrastructure is broken and your customers are unable to get their crucial data, your business can suffer lost sales and lowered revenues. And as a System Administrator you may lose your job! Which is why SA’s listen to the recommendations of their vendors’ Technical Engineers so closely when making architecture decisions. When a critical part is made by a vendor where former executives are accused of fraud, you may have to start considering how to rebuild and architect your storage infrastructure. Network Appliance has a long and fruitful relationship with Brocade, and many of our customers are wedded to the Brocade switches they have. But what will happen if Brocade collapses in the next 24 months? Who will support the hardware, software and firmware on these switches? What are your alternatives as a user if a critical component is no longer supported.

These are questions to think about, we all hope that Brocade overcomes its problems. Your vendor’s Executive decisions can have long term consequences for your critical storage infrastructure. In a highly integrated global economy a small disruption at a switch manufacturer may impact all of us.

Just something to think about.