Test and measurement equipment specialist Teledyne LeCroy says it has enhanced its SierraNet line of storage and network test instruments with a new member and new capabilities. The new SierraNet M168 is an eight-port multi-protocol analyzer and error injector for applications including 16G Fibre Channel and 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Meanwhile, the company says it also has added FlexPort and 40 Gigabit Ethernet analysis and error injection features to the SierraNet M408.
Teledyne LeCroy asserts that the SierraNet M168 and M408 are not only the most advanced protocol analyzer instruments on the market but, starting at $19,950, also represent the lowest cost Fibre Channel and Ethernet protocol analyzer systems available, as well as the smallest (1U) and lightest (9.5 lbs).
The key to the instruments’ small size and flexibility is the FlexPort feature, the company says. FlexPort enables each port on a SierraNet platform to perform tests on different protocols and media. This eliminates the need for single-function blades, pods, and adapters, the company says. FlexPort enables each port-pair to probe both Ethernet and Fibre Channel links up to speeds of 16G on copper or fiber-optic cable.
The SierraNet instruments also feature several other new attributes, Teledyne LeCroy reports:
- The SierraNet M408 is the only analyzer in the market with two integrated 40-Gbps QSFP ports, the company says. This feature obviates the need for “octopus cables” and the potential performance degradation they can cause.
- Improved data access via a USB 3.0 host interface on both the SierraNet M168 and M408. This feature supports transfer rates 5x better over competing Fibre Channel and Ethernet analyzers, the company claims.
- The GIGE Host Interface provides IP address set-up menus on the front panel.
- Time-stamp resolution/accuracy of 1 ns, also an industry benchmark, according to the company.
- Advanced state machines in the form of triggers, filters, and error injection capabilities with up to four sequencers and up to 24 states per sequencer.
- Data capture capabilities up to 64 GB (also tops in the industry, Teledyne LeCroy points out), with dynamic memory allocation. The instruments can dynamically assign up to 50% (up to 32 GB) of the total recording memory to one port-pair or spread the memory use across all eight ports dynamically based on the traffic profile.
- New and improved graphical user interface (GUI) via the new “Net Protocol Suite” application, a unified software architecture for all functions.
"With these introductions, Teledyne LeCroy has significantly expanded its commitment to the SAN market and is now the only protocol analysis company to support every bus, at every speed, for every protocol in the SAN,” said Joe Mendolia, vice president of marketing for Teledyne LeCroy’s Protocol Solutions Group. “In extending that commitment, Teledyne LeCroy’s engineering teams also created CrossSync, which provides the ability to fully time-correlate all protocol traffic across the SAN including FC, FCoE, iSCSI, NVMe, PCIe, SAS, SATA, SATA-Express, and SCSI-Express.”
The SierraNet M408 is shipping; the SierraNet M168 starts shipping in July 2013.
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