EOS manages the configuration features inside a single McData switch, while EFCM manages multiple McData switches within a SAN, the company says. Layering SANavigator on top means we can manage all the pieces [from other vendors] that go together in a SAN from the switches to HBAs and hubs, says Brandon Hoff, vice president of strategic marketing at McData.
Analysts say this gives McData an advantage over Brocade as it's Fabric OS management software is designed to manage Brocade switches only. "Fabric OS does not provide topology and device discovery of other elements on the network," says Arun Taneja, senior analyst with the Enterprise Storage Group Inc..
Brocade had not returned calls by press time.
To complete the spin on the deal, McData has coined the phrase fabric virtualization, or managing data across multiprotocol, multivendor switches, in much the same way as storage virtualization is supposed to operate across disparate storage devices (see Virtual Reality?).
As far as the competitive landscape goes for storage network management software, the deal leaves Prisa Networks Inc. and InterSAN Inc. as the two remaining startups in this space. They face steep competition from the likes of Veritas Software Corp. (Nasdaq: VRTS), Computer Associates International (NYSE: CA), BMC Software Inc., and IBM Corp.s (NYSE: IBM) Tivoli unit, each of which are stepping up efforts in this area (see InterSAN Attracts Major InterEST).
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