PALO ALTO, Calif., November 19 2025 -- Broadcom Inc., a global leader in semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions, today announced the availability of the Brocade X8 Directors and Brocade G820 56-port switch, the industry’s first 128G Fibre Channel platforms designed for today’s mission-critical workloads and enterprise AI applications. Brocade Gen 8 Fibre Channel safeguards storage for the quantum era and automates infrastructure management through embedded SAN AI technology.

“Brocade has been the trusted leader in Fibre Channel for more than 30 years. Our new Gen 8 Fibre Channel platforms advance the enterprise storage industry by securing storage networks against emerging quantum-era threats and by utilizing embedded SAN AI technology to automate application infrastructure management,” said Dennis Makishima, vice president and general manager, Brocade Storage Networking, Broadcom. “These new 128G platforms establish a robust foundation for mission-critical and enterprise AI workloads.”

The launch of the Brocade Gen 8 portfolio underscores Broadcom’s unmatched leadership and innovation in Fibre Channel technology. The Brocade X8 directors form the core of large, scalable networks, while the Brocade G820 mid-range switch can be flexibly deployed as an edge or top-of-rack switch. The Gen 8 portfolio combines 128G performance, quantum-safe security, and AI-powered autonomy to enable the most robust and secure network for modern data centers.

Enterprises today are navigating a more sophisticated spectrum of threats with the advent of AI and quantum computing. With quantum-resistant 256-bit encryption and other post-quantum cryptography algorithms, the Brocade Gen 8 portfolio is designed to be quantum-safe, protecting sensitive data and critical infrastructure from future quantum computers. Brocade Gen 8 technology further hardens the SAN by minimizing the attack surface through strong access controls and limiting privileges, using a principle of least privilege architecture.

Brocade Gen 8 modernizes SAN management with the introduction of AI-powered autonomy that learns, adapts, and responds to changing environments. SAN Fabric Intelligence eliminates time-consuming manual processes, and provides a complete, end-to-end visibility for all connected devices and components within the SAN including virtual machines. This holistic fabric view highlights and drills down into key points of interest to accelerate troubleshooting and ensure optimal performance.

The Brocade Adaptive Traffic Optimizer feature learns and adapts to changing application demands with dynamic load balancing across performance groups and virtual channels to maintain critical application performance. Additionally, Adaptive Traffic Optimizer can help avoid application performance impacts by automatically isolating traffic that is adversely impacting other flows.

Brocade X8 Directors: Build a Scalable Fabric with Uncompromising Security

This modern, highly-scalable Gen 8 director is a modular platform, purpose-built to power and secure large-scale storage environments, supporting growth, workload consolidation, and reliable operations. With up to 384×128G ports, the Brocade X8 Director delivers exceptional bandwidth and throughput required to support growing numbers of devices, applications, and workloads without compromising performance. High bandwidth and ultra-low latency eliminate I/O bottlenecks, delivering maximum performance for high-transaction workloads.

This performance headroom enables organizations to consolidate workloads onto fewer systems. To further maximize utilization, up to 128 UltraScale ICL links enable the director to scale efficiently while preserving device ports for connectivity. The Brocade X8 Director offers flexible deployment options and multiprotocol support, enabling organizations to optimize resources to meet the evolving requirements of next-generation storage and servers.

Brocade G820 Switch: Unleash Performance with Uncompromising Security

This high-performance 1U Fibre Channel switch is purpose-built to meet the demanding needs of modern data centers. With 56 128G SFP+ ports and unmatched low latency, this switch delivers exceptional bandwidth and throughput, making it ideal for fueling enterprise AI and modern workloads. With its compact design, the Brocade G820 Switch enables efficient use of rack space while providing the scalability necessary for future growth.

Availability

Both the Brocade X8 Directors and the Brocade G820 switch are available now. Please contact your local Broadcom sales representative for more information. OEM partners will begin shipping throughout the next couple of quarters.