Emulex announced that its LightPulse family of Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapters (HBAs) and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) Converged Network Adapters (CNAs) support Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V and Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008.

“Emulex works closely with Microsoft to deliver products that offer industry-leading I/O connectivity management tools and features for virtualized server environments,” said Scott McIntyre, vice president of product marketing, Emulex. “As server virtualization and network convergence continue to drive storage area network (SAN) attach rates, Emulex LightPulse adapters provide end users with a comprehensive feature set that ensures their Microsoft server virtualization environments are optimized for Fibre Channel and FCoE SAN connectivity.”

The SCOOTER Store utilizes Emulex HBAs and management tools in its growing Microsoft-based virtualized server environment. “Using Emulex HBAs and management tools, with Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 and Hyper-V, we're saving time and improving SAN connectivity management in our virtualized server environment,” said Eric Murcia, senior systems administrator for The SCOOTER Store. “Emulex's intuitive HBA management suite helps automate the process of creating and migrating virtual ports and reduces the time it takes to provision storage for a new virtual server by a factor of ten.”

Emulex FCoE CNAs drop into existing data center environments using the same qualified and proven drivers, management tools and techniques that Emulex’s Fibre Channel HBAs have used for over ten years. A converged network, utilizing FCoE, allows traffic to be seamlessly transported over an 10Gb/s Enhanced Ethernet network with fewer ports, fewer cards inside servers and fewer cables, while providing investment protection for existing Fibre Channel SANs.

“Virtualization is playing a critical role in molding the next stage of IT innovation and seamless support for Fibre Channel and FCoE solutions with Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V and System Center Virtual Machine Manager plays an important part in the evolution,” said Zane Adam, senior director of integrated virtualization at Microsoft. “We look forward to continuing to build on our long-standing relationship with Emulex to meet the evolving needs of customers.”

Emulex adapters feature LightPulse Virtual HBA technology and integrated management tools, which extend the capabilities of Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 in creating and migrating Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V virtual machines. Both Emulex LightPulse HBAs and CNAs allow end users to effectively "virtualize" SAN connectivity and serve as a vital element of Microsoft’s overall data center virtualization management strategy, leading to more efficient host utilization and compliance with SAN management best practices.

For more information on Emulex contact Stephanie Hueter, SHueter@lpp.com at Lois Paul & Partners.