One of the largest companies in the field of storage area
networking (SAN), McData Corporation, has sued its main rival,
Brocade Communications Systems, alleging infringement of one of its
patents.
An SAN is a high-speed special-purpose network that
interconnects different kinds of data storage devices with
associated data servers on behalf of a larger network of users.
Brocade and McData sell equipment for setting up SANs, such as
switches and software designed to optimise data availability and
storage and server resources.
The McData patent in question covers the measuring of traffic
within a switch to maintain efficiency of data transfer. Brocade
issued a statement on Friday saying it believes that McData’s suit
is “without merit” and that it intends to defend the lawsuit
vigorously.
