IBM 59Y1987 Brocade Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter 4.24 Gbps 1 x Fiber Channel PCI-Express

Single-port 4.24 Gbps Fibre Channel adapter

The IBM 59Y1987 is a Brocade-based host bus adapter that adds one Fibre Channel port to an IBM System x server. It connects through a PCI Express x8 slot and delivers a 4.24 Gbit/s data transfer rate for storage-area-network traffic. The low-profile plug-in card measures 2.7" by 6.6" by .7" and weighs approximately 4.50 oz. It suits administrators who need a single 4 Gbps link without occupying a larger bracket.

Passive thermal profile and negligible power draw

The adapter has no active cooling and relies on chassis airflow across its compact circuit board. With only one port and a 4.24 Gbps SerDes, the component draws minimal power from the PCI Express bus and adds no audible noise to the server. Standard front-to-back cooling in a System x enclosure is sufficient to keep the card within its operating temperature range during normal SAN operations.

Steady throughput under continuous fabric load

Under sustained I/O the single 4.24 Gbps link maintains line-rate performance because the Brocade ASIC processes frames in hardware without host-CPU intervention. Latency remains consistent whether the workload is a short backup window or a day-long replication stream. The PCI Express x8 interface provides ample headroom so the host bus does not become a bottleneck during prolonged saturation of the Fibre Channel port.