SI350-PLUS vs. ADX (SI-1016-2)

We have a lot of experience with Foundry ServerIron load balancers. So when our customers starting inquiring about their new line of ADX access switches, we wanted to get a better grasp of how a legacy SI350-PLUS stacked up against the new ServerIron ADX line. I got a chance to ask my Brocade SE about some very specific things I had been wanting to know...

For starters, the ADX firmware is based on the code-train of the legacy serverIron family. This means that those familiar with the how the older models operated will not have a hard time finding their way around the new line. In addition the obvious size reduction, there are also many feature set additions including NAT64 gateway, Application resource broker, XML API support, added routing protocol support, and standard SSL among others that make the ADX line a compelling option.

When looking at a rough comparison of a the performance gap between a legacy WSM6/7 and the 1BP (application processor) of new line, the ADX is only slightly more powerful which means from a strictly performance standpoint a modular SI350-PLUS using a WSM7 (which has 3BP) would out-perform a fixed-configuration switch such as the SI-1016-2 (2BP). So SSL requirements aside, based on the fact that a ServerIron running Jetcore can run dual management, and support up to 6BPs, you'd really need to go up to a modular ADX 4000 running an SI-ASM8 (Application Switch Module with 8BPs) to out-perform the dual WSM7 Jetcore. However, once you jump intot he modular ADX line, the performance capabilities are mind-blowing! With a ADX 4000 you can get 16BPs, and a ADX 10K can support up to 32BP!

If you have the rack-space/budget for an ADX modular chassis, it's going to really be all you could ever hope for in a load balancer. But for those on a budget, the take home message is a SI350-PLUS with a WSM6/7 (or WSM6-SSL-2 if you run encryption), a B10Gx2 and J-B16GC could still be a great stand-in for the price.

Give me a call with any questions about this or ANY Brocade or legacy Foundry products.

Charles Hurbert
charles(at)terabitsystems(dot)com
415-483-1190 Direct
AIM: chazfilez75