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Fabric OS
open-in-new
<h2 id="first-generation">First generation</h2> <p>The first generation of Fabric OS was developed on top of a <a href="/facts/VxWorks/DCajjp0d">VxWorks</a> <a href="/facts/Kernel_(operating_system)/uEj4U3Rz">kernel</a> and was mainly used in the Brocade Silkworm 2000 and first 3000 series on <a href="/facts/Intel_i960/xnFNnjsX">Intel i960</a>. </p> <h2 id="second-generation">Second generation</h2> <p>The second generation of Fabric OS (4.0) was developed on a <a href="/facts/PowerPC/DqmM9y50">PowerPC</a> platform, and uses <a href="/facts/MontaVista/jHbsW6FX">MontaVista</a> <a href="/facts/Linux/9FvCKSTq">Linux</a>, a Linux derivative with <a href="/facts/Real-time_computing/p9HxgL4L">real-time</a> performance enhancements. With the advent of MontaVista, switches and directors have the ability of hot <a href="/facts/Firmware/62UVKIUK">firmware</a> activation (without downtime for <a href="/facts/Fibre_Channel_fabric/TwfTsu3e">Fibre Channel fabric</a>), and many useful diagnostic commands. </p><p>According to free software licenses terms, Brocade <a href="http://www.brocade.com/services-support/drivers-downloads/oscd/oscd_listings.page">provides access to sources</a> of distributed free software, on which Fabric OS and other Brocade's software products are based. </p> <h2 id="additional-licensed-products">Additional licensed products</h2> <p>Additional products for Fabric OS are offered by Brocade for one-time fee. They are licensed for use in a single specific switch (license key is coupled with device's serial number). Those include: </p> <ul><li>Integrated Routing</li> <li>Adaptive Networking: <a href="/facts/Quality_of_service/joz9VkUm">Quality of service</a>, Ingress Rate Limiting</li> <li><a href="/facts/Brocade_Communications_Systems/tMNHxMLm">Brocade</a> Advanced <a href="/facts/Fibre_Channel_zoning/7lNH7Ds4">Zoning</a> (Free with rel 6.1.x)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Fibre_Channel_switch/wmJ0RAs7">ISL</a> <a href="/facts/Trunking/YazQ6Stv">trunking</a></li> <li>Ports on Demand</li> <li>Extended Fabrics (more than 10 km of switched fabric connectivity, up to 3000 km)</li> <li>Advanced Performance Monitoring (APM)</li> <li>Fabric Watch</li> <li>Secure Fabric OS (obsolete)</li> <li>VMWare VSPEX integration <a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="versions">Versions</h2> Fabric OS current "<i>Posted</i>" versions<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a><table><tbody><tr><th>Major Version(Date)</th><th>Version</th><th>Date</th><th>Target Path</th><th><a href="/facts/FICON/sX4NCdzH">FICON</a> Qualified</th><th>Posting Status</th><th>Notes</th></tr><tr><td rowspan="1">Latest version: 9.2.2x(October 2024)</td><td>9.2.2</td><td>October 15, 2024</td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td>Posted</td><td></td></tr><tr><td colspan="7"></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="3">Old version, still maintained: 9.2.1x(December 2023)</td><td>9.2.1b</td><td>January 7, 2025</td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td>Posted</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>9.2.1a1</td><td>October 31, 2024</td><td>No</td><td>Yes</td><td>Posted</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>9.2.1</td><td>December 20, 2023</td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td>Posted</td><td></td></tr><tr><td colspan="7"></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">Old version, still maintained: 9.2.0x(April 2023)</td><td>9.2.0c3</td><td>January 22, 2025</td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td><td>Posted (LW)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>9.2.0b1</td><td>June 27, 2024</td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td><td>Posted</td><td></td></tr><tr><td colspan="7"></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">Old version, still maintained: 9.1.x(December 2021)</td><td>9.1.1d2</td><td>July 11, 2024</td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td><td>Posted (LW)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>9.1.1c3</td><td>November 9, 2023</td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td><td>Posted</td><td></td></tr><tr><td colspan="7"></td></tr><tr><td>Old version, still maintained: 8.2.x(November 2017)</td><td>8.2.3e2</td><td>December 17, 2024</td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td><td>Posted</td><td>Available and supported for Gen 5 platforms only</td></tr><tr><td colspan="7">Legend:Old version, not maintainedOld version, still maintainedLatest versionLatest preview versionFuture version LW = <i>Lifetime Warranty platforms</i></td></tr></tbody></table> <ul><li>Fabric OS 9.x <ul><li>9.2.2:</li> <li>9.2.1:</li> <li>9.2.0:</li> <li>9.1: Root Access Removal, NTP Server authentication</li> <li>9.0: Traffic optimizer, Fabric congestion notification, New Web Tools (graphical UI switched from Java to Web)</li></ul></li> <li>Fabric OS 8.x <ul><li>8.2: <a href="/facts/NVM_Express/Ye7N4elE">NVMe</a> capable + <a href="/facts/Representational_state_transfer/Q58zfr5h">REST</a> API</li> <li>8.1:</li> <li>8.0: Contains many new software features and enhancements as well as issue resolutions</li></ul></li> <li>Fabric OS 7.x <ul><li>7.4: Switch to Linux 3.10 kernel</li> <li>7.3:</li> <li>7.2:</li> <li>7.1:</li> <li>7.0:</li></ul></li> <li>Fabric OS 6.x <ul><li>6.4:</li> <li>6.3: Fillwords 2 and 3 introduced in Fabric OS 6.3.1a</li> <li>6.2: Virtual Fabrics-capable</li> <li>6.1: M-EOS compatibility enhancements</li> <li>6.0: LDAP support</li></ul></li> <li>Fabric OS 5.x <ul><li>5.3: Switch to Linux 2.6 kernel</li> <li>5.2:</li> <li>5.1: Access Gateway mode</li> <li>5.0:</li></ul></li> <li>Fabric OS 4.x <ul><li>4.4:</li> <li>4.3:</li> <li>4.2:</li> <li>4.1: SSH support, Multiple user access</li> <li>4.0: migrated from VxWorks to Linux</li></ul></li> <li>Fabric OS 3.x</li> <li>Fabric OS 2.x</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://www.broadcom.com/products/fibre-channel-networking/software/fabric-operating-system">FOS - Fabric Operating System</a></li> <li><a href="https://docs.broadcom.com/doc/Brocade-SW-Support-RM">FOS Release Support and Posting Status Matrices (PDF)</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"Broadcom Fibre Channel Networking". <a href="https://www.broadcom.com/products/fibre-channel-networking" target="_blank">https://www.broadcom.com/products/fibre-channel-networking</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"Brocade SAN Fabric Technologies Provide Solid Foundation for New EMC VSPEX with VMAX3 100K Infrastructure Solution - MarketWatch". Archived from the original on 2015-10-01. Retrieved 2015-08-12. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20151001174530/http://www.marketwatch.com/story/brocade-san-fabric-technologies-provide-solid-foundation-for-new-emc-vspex-with-vmax3-100k-infrastructure-solution-2015-05-05" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20151001174530/http://www.marketwatch.com/story/brocade-san-fabric-technologies-provide-solid-foundation-for-new-emc-vspex-with-vmax3-100k-infrastructure-solution-2015-05-05</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>FOS Release Support and Posting Status Matrices (PDF) - Version 2.21; Brocade-SW-Support-RM123; January 31, 2025 <a href="https://docs.broadcom.com/doc/Brocade-SW-Support-RM" target="_blank">https://docs.broadcom.com/doc/Brocade-SW-Support-RM</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>