EMC Corporation, the world leader in information storage and management, and Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., the world's leading provider of infrastructure solutions for Storage Area Networks (SANs), today announced that EMC will offer the Brocade SilkWorm 24000 Director as a member of the EMC Connectrix" family of directors and switches. The new EMC Connectrix ED-24000B Director extends EMC's portfolio of leading storage solutions that help customers better manage their information throughout its lifecycle. Designed to the most stringent enterprise data center requirements, the new EMC Connectrix ED-24000B supports 128 ports in a single domain at 2 Gbit/sec, and features hot code activation as well as fully redundant power supplies, fans and control processors. The EMC Connectrix ED-24000B Director is initially qualified by EMC for Fibre Channel with planned future support for FICON. Additional protocols such as FCIP and iSCSI can be offered through the addition of future expansion blades. (For more information, see today's Brocade press release: "Brocade Introduces New SilkWorm 24000 Director"). The EMC Connectrix ED-24000B Director with Fibre Channel connectivity will be generally available on May 3. "The EMC Connectrix family of directors and switches are a core component of a customer's information lifecycle management strategy," said Chuck Hollis, EMC's Vice President of Platforms Marketing. "We subject every SAN switch and director we support to the most rigorous testing in the industry to ensure the widest range of compatibility and the highest levels of reliability. The new EMC Connectrix ED-24000B is a strong addition to EMC's family of enterprise directors with the features, performance and reliability to help customers deploy a flexible and dynamic IT infrastructure." "With its position as a leader in open, interoperable storage networks, EMC places a premium on the commitment to support its customer's investment in infrastructure throughout multiple generations of technology," said Tom Buiocchi, Brocade Vice President of Marketing. "We've designed the new SilkWorm Director with that same commitment and we are delivering a platform that promises long-term investment protection and flexibility to accommodate technology changes."