Brocade Network Subscription is available now for Brocade's IP/Ethernet networking products, including the new VDX line of switches. Service provider Rackspace Hosting, with more than 140,000 customers worldwide, is already using Network Subscription, Brocade says.

Brocade Network Subscription includes Essential Support from Brocade Global Services.

The new VDX switches, meanwhile, include the Brocade VDX 6730 and the VDX 6710. The 6730 is a 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch designed to protect existing SAN infrastructure investments by bridging Brocade-based Ethernet fabrics to Fibre Channel SAN fabrics. It can be deployed as a traditional Ethernet switch in the access and aggregation layers, and supports 24-60 1/10GbE SFP+ Data Center Bridging (DCB)-compliant Ethernet ports, and 8-16 8Gbps Fiber Channel ports.

The 6710 is a high-density, 1/10GbE switch designed to provide a low-cost entry point for Brocade fabric technology by enabling 1GbE servers to connect to Ethernet fabrics as well as traditional data center LAN deployments.