Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)
FCoE is a new standard that allows the encapsulation of a complete FC frame into and Ethernet frame. The resulting Ethernet frame can then be transported over a 10GbE network. FCoE is designed to use the same operational mode as native FC technology which means services such as discovery; world-wide name (WWN) addressing, zoning and LUN masking all operate the same way in FCoE as they do in native FC.
Benefits
FCoE hosted on 10GbE extends the reach of FC networks, allowing it to connect to virtually every data centre server to a centralized pool of storage. FCoE integrates seamlessly with existing FC equipment, protecting not only capital investment, but also investments in storage management software, existing policies and administrators. FCoE allows Internet Protocol (IP) and FC network traffic to be carried over existing FCoE aware drivers, Network Interface Cards (NICs), and switches, allowing the use of a single cabling infrastructure within server racks. This simplifies network topology while reducing cabling cost and complexity, eliminating unwanted I/O adapters, reducing power and cooling overheads whilst improving bandwidth via 10GbE. As FCoE storage systems and fabric become available, data centres can implement fully converged networks from server to storage that can utilise the benefits of FCoE, iSCSI and 10GbE over one single network.
Key FCoE benefits include:
- Fewer interface cards per server
- Reduction in data centre cabling
- Fewer access layer switches
- Flexible performance management
- Power and cooling savings
- Seamless integration with existing FC infrastructure
- Seamless management integration
Adoption
The fundamental reason for moving to FCoE will be a desire to move to a single fabric in the data centre for storage and data communication that at the same time reduces cost overheads. Additionally any data centre that has used virtualisation to consolidate servers will be looking at technology that can consolidate the network infrastructure and most of these will have already invested in 10GbE which can easily have FCoE laid over the top.
Other areas to consider will be existing data centres that already have a FC infrastructure and will be looking to invest in new technology that can integrate with what they already have. There will be new data centres that can go straight to 10GbE and implement both FCoE and iSCSI that will satisfy the I/O load depending on application. Finally there will be the existing data centres that have a mix of storage technology such as Direct Attach Storage (DAS), Network Attached Storage (NAS), FC SAN and iSCSI SAN. In these environments IT managers will be looking at technology that can consolidate storage in order to reduce complexity, power and cooling costs as well as management costs.
In the coming years IT will have more choices and flexibility when it comes to deploying networked storage. As FCoE enters the market and all Ethernet data centres become a reality, we can expect to see multiple storage protocols deployed that are application optimized and can be centrally managed.
