Brocade FC Director-Class Switches Maintenance
side by side.

X7 · current 64Gb director generation

X7-4 (4-slot, up to 192 ports) · X7-8 (8-slot, up to 384 ports) — 64Gb-capable

X6 · 32Gb director generation

X6-4 (4-slot, up to 192 ports) · X6-8 (8-slot, up to 384 ports) — 32Gb

DCX generation (older, EOSL)

DCX (8-slot 8Gb) · DCX-4S (4-slot 8Gb) · DCX-8510-4 · DCX-8510-8 (16Gb)

Line cards & modules

FC32-48/FC64-48 line cards · extension blades · CP modules · CR modules · power supplies · blower

EOSL status of Brocade director generations

Director-class maintenance is the highest lever in the Brocade maintenance portfolio. Broadcom support for a fully populated X6-8 or X7-8 with 8 line cards, redundant CP modules and 4 power supplies is a major annual budget item — and director-class switches are the standard for storage backbones in DACH banks, insurers and large enterprises. For DCX/DCX-8510 fleets (EOSL generation), conditions are particularly critical because Broadcom often offers no support anymore or at significantly increased prices. TPM reduces this to 35-50 percent, on EOSL DCX up to 70 percent.

We service Brocade director-class with OEM line cards (FC32-48 for X6, FC64-48 for X7, FC8/FC16 cards for DCX), control processors, switch fabric modules, power supplies and blower modules from our own warehouse. For DCX/DCX-8510 fleets we also maintain certified refurbishing pools — this generation has particularly high install density in DACH banks (storage refresh cycles are conservative there, many DCX-8510 platforms run productively for 8-12 years). Brocade Fabric OS on directors continues to work without licensing — zoning, ISL trunking, virtual fabric, all director-specific functions stay active.

The full OEM-vs-TPM matrix (spare parts, SLA tiers, language, sub-outsourcing, compliance docs, reporting) is the same for every Brocade line — see the Brocade battle card.

BAIT/MaRisk documentation package, DORA Art. 28 contract template, ISO 27001 and GDPR-compliant media handling apply identically to every Brocade line — details on the Brocade battle card.

Same four steps for every Brocade line: inventory → fixed-price quote in 48 h → contract (BAIT/MaRisk/DORA hooks) → hand-over with spare-parts provisioning. Details on the Brocade battle card.

Which Brocade director models do you service?

Complete director family of all three generations: X7 series (X7-4 with 4 slots, X7-8 with 8 slots — current 64Gb generation, up to 384 ports), X6 series (X6-4, X6-8 — 32Gb generation, up to 384 ports) and DCX series (DCX original 8-slot 8Gb, DCX-4S 4-slot 8Gb, DCX-8510-4 4-slot 16Gb, DCX-8510-8 8-slot 16Gb — older generations, EOSL reached or near). Including all line cards (FC8/FC16/FC32-48/FC64-48), extension blades, control processors (CP modules), switch fabric modules (CR modules), power supplies and blower modules.

What does TPM cost for Brocade director compared to Broadcom support?

30 to 60 percent savings. For an X6-8 with 4 line cards and 24×7×4, TechCare is roughly 55–60% below the Broadcom price; for a fully populated X7-8 also roughly 55–60% below Broadcom support. DCX-8510-8 (EOSL) often no longer available with Broadcom or only at significantly increased prices — TPM also covers full population here, pricing depending on refurbishing share. With multiple directors per data center (fabric-A/fabric-B redundancy), Broadcom maintenance costs quickly become one of the largest budget items — TPM achieves the largest absolute savings here.

Can you service older DCX/DCX-8510?

Yes, the key focus topic of our Brocade director business. DCX (released 2007), DCX-4S (2008), DCX-8510-4 and DCX-8510-8 (2011) are still very widespread in DACH banks, insurers and large industry — storage refresh cycles are traditionally conservative there, and 16Gb FC for classic SAN workloads is still sufficient. We stock line cards (FC8 cards, FC16 cards), control processors, power supplies and blower modules from certified refurbishing pools. Fabric OS on older DCX platforms continues to work — typically uncritical because director configs in productive bank fabrics are stable over years.

When does X7 vs. X6 vs. DCX make sense from a TPM perspective?

X7 is the current 64Gb generation — relevant for refresh projects and new storage workloads (NVMe-over-FC, AI/ML storage). TPM is an alternative to Broadcom support for hardware maintenance here, but X7 fleets have only been in the market since 2021 — the larger TPM relevance begins after factory warranty expiration. X6 (32Gb, since 2017) is the established generation in DACH enterprise SAN — TPM very much in demand here, Broadcom support renewals are often not economically attractive. DCX/DCX-8510 (8/16Gb) are the EOSL generations — TPM is often the only remaining service option here because Broadcom no longer offers renewal.

Which SLA levels do you recommend for director-class?

Director-class is tier-1 storage networking — director outage affects the entire SAN fabric with all attached storage arrays. 24×7×4 with German-speaking onsite engineer is standard. In DACH banks and insurers often 24×7×2 (2-hour response) is also desired — we offer this too, at a corresponding surcharge. With dual-fabric designs with fabric-A and fabric-B (standard in enterprise SAN), single director failure can be absorbed by the second fabric, but we recommend 24×7×4 because of the criticality of the storage backbone role. For EOSL DCX fleets with second active fabric: 5×9 NBD economically justifiable.

Can we get 64Gb FC optics for X7?

Yes. X7 uses SFP+/QSFP+ optics for 64Gb FC connectivity. We supply optics as certified third-party optics or original Brocade optics — both options technically compatible. Plus 32Gb optics for X6 and 16Gb/8Gb optics for DCX platforms. Third-party FC optics are typically 50-70 percent cheaper than original Brocade optics, technically identical.