The Brocade SilkWorm switches create an intelligent storage-networking infrastructure for mission-critical Storage Area Networks (SAN). All Brocade switches support connectivity of a wide range of server and storage devices. The SilkWorm 2400 and 2800 enterprise-class Fiber Channel switches are designed to address the SAN requirements of very large workgroups and enterprises. Both switches support business-critical SAN applications, such as LAN-free backup, storage consolidation, remote mirroring, and high-availability clustering configurations.This product family provides a seamless upgrade path for customers currently using the SilkWorm 2000 series of 8-port entry-level switches or the SilkWorm 2200 series of 16-port entry-level switches. The SilkWorm 2400 and 2800 switches are also completely interoperable with entry-level switches, enabling cost-effective "pay-as-you-grow" migration to more advanced SAN environments. The SilkWorm 2400 and 2800 switches support scalability through networking multiple switches, and a fabric operating system (OS) that enables heterogeneous device connectivity, automatic data routing and re routing, self-healing, and scalable connectivity. The 16-port SilkWorm 2800 complements the SilkWorm 2400 switch by delivering higher density connectivity for extremely large SAN fabrics. Up to 239 switches can be networked together, providing over 2,000 ports of interconnectivity. This networking capability allows companies to design and build enterprise, high-availability SANs.