Dark Fiber

Fibre Channel SAN market experienced a broad-based, record sequential revenue growth in the fourth quarter of 2009, with both Fibre Channel Switch and Host Bus Adapter segments posting large increases, reports market research firm Dell’ (News - Alert)Oro Group.

 All four of the large vendors in this market, namely, Brocade, Cisco, Emulex and QLogic, had very strong sequential performances that helped propel the market to expand more than 15 percent quarter-over-quarter, says the report.

“These robust results were likely a confluence of improving economic conditions, overzealous budget cuts during the first half of 2009, government stimulus, and some alleviated supply constraints,” said Seamus Crehan, Vice President of Dell’Oro Group.

“Furthermore, the server upgrade cycle that started in the second quarter of 2009 was also a key driver of the Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter growth, especially 8 Gbps,” added Crehan.

The report also indicates that fourth quarter results were strong enough to put revenues close to par with the record results seen in late 2008, and propel port shipments above those levels.

The Dell’Oro Group’s “SAN 5-Year Forecast Report,” predicts that FCoE will be “a major growth contributor to both the Fibre Channel HBA market and the Ethernet network adapter market.

With converged networking gaining traction, main players in Fibre Channel networking are fighting a fierce battle for larger market share.

Although the market for FC switches, hubs and HBAs exploded between 1997 and 2000, growth in 2002 was just 3 percent year-on-year, according to Gartner (News - Alert). That followed growth of 11 percent in 2001, and a CAGR 189 percent between 1998 and 2000. Total worldwide FC revenue last year was $1.47 billion, according to Gartner.