This white paper provides an overview of Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), describes the hardware and software components that make up the ecosystem, and explains how the technology is expected to continue to mature over the next few years.
Converged Data Center: FCoE, iSCSI, & the Future of Storage Networking ( EMC ...EMC
This session explores the opportunities and challenges of using a single network to support both storage and networking. The Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) and iSCSI (SCSI over TCP/IP) protocols offer two approaches for supporting storage over Ethernet. Standards, technologies and deployment scenarios for both protocols will be covered, along with the future of storage networking technology.
Objective 1: Describe FCoE and iSCSI and how they fit into existing storage and networking infrastructure.
After this session you will be able to:
Objective 2: Explain how FCoE and iSCSI solutions provide storage networking options for Ethernet, including 10Gb Ethernet.
Objective 3: Describe some of the opportunities and challenges of converging storage and networking environments.
FC/FCoE - Topologies, Protocols, and Limitations ( EMC World 2012 )EMC
An in-depth discussion of the FC and FCoE protocols focusing on the topologies that are currently supported, those under development and any known issues. The current EMC best practices are also reviewed and the reasons behind them explained.
Converged Data Center: FCoE, iSCSI and the Future of Storage NetworkingEMC
(EMC World 2012 )This session explores the opportunities and challenges of using a single network to support both storage and networking. The Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) and iSCSI (SCSI over TCP/IP) protocols offer two approaches for supporting storage over Ethernet. Standards, technologies and deployment scenarios for both protocols are covered, along with the future of storage networking technology.
Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) – Design, operations and management best p...Cisco Canada
This presentation will discuss, the Unified Fabric, FCoE protocol fundamentals, Nexus FCoE capabilities, FCoE Network requirements and design considerations, Ethernet enhancements, single hop design and multi-hop design.
Converged Data Center: FCoE, iSCSI, & the Future of Storage Networking ( EMC ...EMC
This session explores the opportunities and challenges of using a single network to support both storage and networking. The Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) and iSCSI (SCSI over TCP/IP) protocols offer two approaches for supporting storage over Ethernet. Standards, technologies and deployment scenarios for both protocols will be covered, along with the future of storage networking technology.
Objective 1: Describe FCoE and iSCSI and how they fit into existing storage and networking infrastructure.
After this session you will be able to:
Objective 2: Explain how FCoE and iSCSI solutions provide storage networking options for Ethernet, including 10Gb Ethernet.
Objective 3: Describe some of the opportunities and challenges of converging storage and networking environments.
FC/FCoE - Topologies, Protocols, and Limitations ( EMC World 2012 )EMC
An in-depth discussion of the FC and FCoE protocols focusing on the topologies that are currently supported, those under development and any known issues. The current EMC best practices are also reviewed and the reasons behind them explained.
Converged Data Center: FCoE, iSCSI and the Future of Storage NetworkingEMC
(EMC World 2012 )This session explores the opportunities and challenges of using a single network to support both storage and networking. The Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) and iSCSI (SCSI over TCP/IP) protocols offer two approaches for supporting storage over Ethernet. Standards, technologies and deployment scenarios for both protocols are covered, along with the future of storage networking technology.
Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) – Design, operations and management best p...Cisco Canada
This presentation will discuss, the Unified Fabric, FCoE protocol fundamentals, Nexus FCoE capabilities, FCoE Network requirements and design considerations, Ethernet enhancements, single hop design and multi-hop design.
Converged Data Center: FCoE, iSCSI and the Future of Storage NetworkingEMC
From ( EMCWorld 2011 ) : This session explores the opportunities and challenges of using a single network to support both storage and networking. The Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) and iSCSI (SCSI over TCP/IP) protocols offer two approaches for supporting storage over Ethernet. Standards, technologies and deployment scenarios for both protocols are covered, along with the future of storage networking technology.
NetApp commissioned Demartek to evaluate its FAS3240, one of the members of its full line of unified storage solutions, for its ability to handle a full load of mixed traffic types simultaneously.
Maximize Server Refresh Revenue with Emulex 8GB Fibre Channel and the Emulex ...Emulex Corporation
Join Shawn Pattock, Channel Marketing Americas, and Barbara Porter, Product Manager, in this informative webinar for resellers that will discuss the latest server refresh, revenue generating opportunities for 8Gb Fibre Channel, and the benefits of joining the Emulex Connect Partner Program.
Network Configuration Example: Configuring VPLS Pseudowires on MX Series Devi...Juniper Networks
This document includes an overview of dynamic profiles. It highlights what they do, how they work, and how to configure virtual private LAN service (VPLS) pseudowires using dynamic profiles. Example configurations are highlighted at the end.
An overview of Ethernet WAN deployment and of the benefits to the Service Provider of Ethernet Demarcation Devices, for both 'wires only' Ethernet Access to IP VPNs and for native Ethernet WAN Services.
All of material inside is un-licence, kindly use it for educational only but please do not to commercialize it.
Based on 'ilman nafi'an, hopefully this file beneficially for you.
Thank you.
Converged Data Center: FCoE, iSCSI and the Future of Storage NetworkingEMC
From ( EMCWorld 2011 ) : This session explores the opportunities and challenges of using a single network to support both storage and networking. The Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) and iSCSI (SCSI over TCP/IP) protocols offer two approaches for supporting storage over Ethernet. Standards, technologies and deployment scenarios for both protocols are covered, along with the future of storage networking technology.
NetApp commissioned Demartek to evaluate its FAS3240, one of the members of its full line of unified storage solutions, for its ability to handle a full load of mixed traffic types simultaneously.
Maximize Server Refresh Revenue with Emulex 8GB Fibre Channel and the Emulex ...Emulex Corporation
Join Shawn Pattock, Channel Marketing Americas, and Barbara Porter, Product Manager, in this informative webinar for resellers that will discuss the latest server refresh, revenue generating opportunities for 8Gb Fibre Channel, and the benefits of joining the Emulex Connect Partner Program.
Network Configuration Example: Configuring VPLS Pseudowires on MX Series Devi...Juniper Networks
This document includes an overview of dynamic profiles. It highlights what they do, how they work, and how to configure virtual private LAN service (VPLS) pseudowires using dynamic profiles. Example configurations are highlighted at the end.
An overview of Ethernet WAN deployment and of the benefits to the Service Provider of Ethernet Demarcation Devices, for both 'wires only' Ethernet Access to IP VPNs and for native Ethernet WAN Services.
All of material inside is un-licence, kindly use it for educational only but please do not to commercialize it.
Based on 'ilman nafi'an, hopefully this file beneficially for you.
Thank you.
Lessico civico. Teorie e pratiche della cittadinanzaCristina Belloni
"Lessico civico" presenta interventi e riflessioni critiche elaborate dai partecipanti alla seconda edizione del Master in Civic Education (Asti, novembre 2010 - maggio 2011), organizzato dall'associazione Ethica in collaborazione con il James Madison Program dell'Università di Princeton. Gli autori, con attitudini e sensibilità differenti, si sono interrogati sulle parole dell'ethos civico, cercando di coglierne contenuti teorici e implicazioni pratiche, in una interazione volta a ripensare criticamente i presupposti, le metodologie e i possibili sviluppi concreti di una educazione alla cittadinanza.
TechBook: IMS on z/OS Using EMC Symmetrix Storage SystemsEMC
This EMC Engineering TechBook provides a general description of EMC products that can be used for IMS administration on z/OS. Using EMC products to manage IMS environments can reduce database and storage management administration, reduce CPU resource consumption, and reduce the time required to clone, backup, or recover IMS systems.
RSA Monthly Online Fraud Report -- February 2014EMC
This report discusses the latest global trends in phishing and cybercrime. In January, phishing losses to global organizations is estimated at $387 million.
Make your presentations stick (2): Magnficient MetaphorsHelena T Cullina
Tutorial 2 in the mini-series of Make Your Presentations Stick. Metaphors make your presentations memorable, but to get the most impact, make sure you follow these hot tips!
The Extra Credit Teacher Program (ECTP) is a down payment and closing cost assistance loan available to first time homebuyers. ECTP is offered by the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA), the State of California first time homebuyer assistance program. ECTP can also be used with the CalPLUS + ZIP, which provides an additional 3.5% of the loan amount that can be used along with the Extra Credit Teacher Program.
Unified Fabric: Data Centre Bridging and FCoE ImplementationCSCJournals
In the past decade cloud computing has become the buzzword in IT world. The implementation of cloud based computing and storage technology changed the way of how network infrastructure is built inside an enterprise. As technology has improved and the cloud based storage systems become more affordable, a number of enterprises started outsourcing their data management due to a number of reasons. But still a majority of large enterprises and SMB (small medium businesses) prefer to manage their own in-house data centers and storage area networks. The reason being is the control, security and integrity of stored data on cloud storage servers. In this paper, we will discuss the most commonly implemented SAN technology, fibre channel (FC) in comparison with the new technology called Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE). These results will help SAN engineers and designers select the best technology between the two in terms of performance, scalability, cost, maintenance, space, cooling, equipment, cabling, management, adapters, labor cost and manpower. Implementation of FC and FCoE has been done to explore the different features of both technologies. Furthermore, how to build a reliable, scalable and secure storage area network has been demonstrated. This study has been carried out on Cisco Nexus, Cisco MDS and Cisco UCS platform.
SAN Virtuosity Series: Network Convergence & Fibre Channel over EthernetEmulex Corporation
This webcast is the fourth in the SAN Virtuosity series from Cisco, VMware, and Emulex and will explore the opportunity to save money by converging your SAN and LAN traffic with FCoE. This webcast introduces network convergence and FCoE, and provides an overview on how to plan for a successful deployment. It will highlight how key products and technologies from Emulex, Cisco and VMware answer the critical questions that must be resolved so that deployments can go forward with a high level of confidence.
Snw Spring 09 F Co E Deployment In Virtualized Environments (031609) [9]Satheesh Nanniyur
FCoE offers an attractive alternative to native Fibre Channel and Ethernet technologies. FCoE provides fully functional storage block access with the benefit of reducing data center components and associated operational cost benefits. This presentation focuses on deployment of FCoE in a Virtualized Data Center.
"FCoE vs. iSCSI - Making the Choice" from Interop Las Vegas 2011Stephen Foskett
The notion that Fibre Channel is for data centers and iSCSI is for SMB’s and workgroups is outdated. Increases in LAN speeds and the coming of lossless Ethernet position iSCSI as a good fit for the data center. Whether your organization adopts FC or iSCSI depends on many factors like current product set, future application demands, organizational skill-set and budget. In this session we will discuss the different conditions where FC or IsCSI are the right fit, why you should use one and when to kick either to the curb.
Blade Server I/O and Workloads of the Future (report)IT Brand Pulse
At the Intel Xeon E5-2600 v3 inflection point, this technology brief looks at how the latest Cisco UCS and HP BladeSystem blade servers match-up to workloads of the future.
Industry Brief: Streamlining Server Connectivity: It Starts at the TopIT Brand Pulse
An overview of how virtual I/O has emerged to efficiently deliver more I/O bandwidth by virtualizing physical links, and supporting multiple I/O protocols in each Virtual I/O system.
Deploying Applications in Today’s Network InfrastructureCisco Canada
This presentation prepares networking engineers for the fundamentals of deploying application in today’s server virtualization infrastructure. The objectives for this presentation is to share best practices, tips and tricks on how best to implement Cisco technology such as Cisco UCS and Cisco Nexus 1000v with any virtualization stack. During this presentation we will analyze and dissect two server virtualization use cases recently architected. These use cases consist of a multi -tenant private cloud and virtual desktop infrastructure for thousands of users.
This paper reviews the trends and technologies in Unified Computing, describes the Datacenter Ethernet technologies for implementing Fibre Channel over Ethernet, and describes Cisco\'s Unified Computing System (UCS)
Ethernet technology has emerged as a cost-effective, mature, robust, high-speed, and versatile choice for MAN/WAN networking of critical defense establishments and military installations – for e.g., army, navy, and air force bases, mission commands, remote war centers, the Pentagon, and other security agencies. Intelligent Ethernet helps to achieve IP-centric service requirements, while enabling wireless and fixed-line networks to evolve to a fast, economical, packet-switched infrastructure. The last few years have seen tremendous advancements in Ethernet architecture, its features, switch/router system design, and its integration with optical technologies. This tutorial provides a clear conceptual overview of optical Ethernet technology advances, network architectures, and benefits for military and defense network planners, network architects, and system engineers.
INDUSTRY-LEADING TECHNOLOGY FOR LONG TERM RETENTION OF BACKUPS IN THE CLOUDEMC
CloudBoost is a cloud-enabling solution from EMC
Facilitates secure, automatic, efficient data transfer to private and public clouds for Long-Term Retention (LTR) of backups. Seamlessly extends existing data protection solutions to elastic, resilient, scale-out cloud storage
Transforming Desktop Virtualization with Citrix XenDesktop and EMC XtremIOEMC
With EMC XtremIO all-flash array, improve
1) your competitive agility with real-time analytics & development
2) your infrastructure agility with elastic provisioning for performance & capacity
3) your TCO with 50% lower capex and opex and double the storage lifecycle.
• Citrix & EMC XtremIO: Better Together
• XtremIO Design Fundamentals for VDI
• Citrix XenDesktop & XtremIO
-- Image Management & Storage
-- Demonstrations
-- XtremIO XenDesktop Integration
EMC FORUM RESEARCH GLOBAL RESULTS - 10,451 RESPONSES ACROSS 33 COUNTRIES EMC
Explore findings from the EMC Forum IT Study and learn how cloud computing, social, mobile, and big data megatrends are shaping IT as a business driver globally.
Reference architecture with MIRANTIS OPENSTACK PLATFORM.The changes that are going on in IT with disruptions from technology, business and culture and so IT to solve the issues has to change from moving from traditional models to broker provider model.
Force Cyber Criminals to Shop Elsewhere
Learn the value of having an Identity Management and Governance solution and how retailers today are benefiting by strengthening their defenses and bolstering their Identity Management capabilities.
Container-based technology has experienced a recent revival and is becoming adopted at an explosive rate. For those that are new to the conversation, containers offer a way to virtualize an operating system. This virtualization isolates processes, providing limited visibility and resource utilization to each, such that the processes appear to be running on separate machines. In short, allowing more applications to run on a single machine. Here is a brief timeline of key moments in container history.
This white paper provides an overview of EMC's data protection solutions for the data lake - an active repository to manage varied and complex Big Data workloads
This infographic highlights key stats and messages from the analyst report from J.Gold Associates that addresses the growing economic impact of mobile cybercrime and fraud.
This white paper describes how an intelligence-driven governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) model can create an efficient, collaborative enterprise GRC strategy across IT, Finance, Operations, and Legal areas.
The Trust Paradox: Access Management and Trust in an Insecure AgeEMC
This white paper discusses the results of a CIO UK survey on a“Trust Paradox,” defined as employees and business partners being both the weakest link in an organization’s security as well as trusted agents in achieving the company’s goals.
DevOps and Testing slides at DASA ConnectKari Kakkonen
My and Rik Marselis slides at 30.5.2024 DASA Connect conference. We discuss about what is testing, then what is agile testing and finally what is Testing in DevOps. Finally we had lovely workshop with the participants trying to find out different ways to think about quality and testing in different parts of the DevOps infinity loop.
Builder.ai Founder Sachin Dev Duggal's Strategic Approach to Create an Innova...Ramesh Iyer
In today's fast-changing business world, Companies that adapt and embrace new ideas often need help to keep up with the competition. However, fostering a culture of innovation takes much work. It takes vision, leadership and willingness to take risks in the right proportion. Sachin Dev Duggal, co-founder of Builder.ai, has perfected the art of this balance, creating a company culture where creativity and growth are nurtured at each stage.
Connector Corner: Automate dynamic content and events by pushing a buttonDianaGray10
Here is something new! In our next Connector Corner webinar, we will demonstrate how you can use a single workflow to:
Create a campaign using Mailchimp with merge tags/fields
Send an interactive Slack channel message (using buttons)
Have the message received by managers and peers along with a test email for review
But there’s more:
In a second workflow supporting the same use case, you’ll see:
Your campaign sent to target colleagues for approval
If the “Approve” button is clicked, a Jira/Zendesk ticket is created for the marketing design team
But—if the “Reject” button is pushed, colleagues will be alerted via Slack message
Join us to learn more about this new, human-in-the-loop capability, brought to you by Integration Service connectors.
And...
Speakers:
Akshay Agnihotri, Product Manager
Charlie Greenberg, Host
Transcript: Selling digital books in 2024: Insights from industry leaders - T...BookNet Canada
The publishing industry has been selling digital audiobooks and ebooks for over a decade and has found its groove. What’s changed? What has stayed the same? Where do we go from here? Join a group of leading sales peers from across the industry for a conversation about the lessons learned since the popularization of digital books, best practices, digital book supply chain management, and more.
Link to video recording: https://bnctechforum.ca/sessions/selling-digital-books-in-2024-insights-from-industry-leaders/
Presented by BookNet Canada on May 28, 2024, with support from the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Slack (or Teams) Automation for Bonterra Impact Management (fka Social Soluti...Jeffrey Haguewood
Sidekick Solutions uses Bonterra Impact Management (fka Social Solutions Apricot) and automation solutions to integrate data for business workflows.
We believe integration and automation are essential to user experience and the promise of efficient work through technology. Automation is the critical ingredient to realizing that full vision. We develop integration products and services for Bonterra Case Management software to support the deployment of automations for a variety of use cases.
This video focuses on the notifications, alerts, and approval requests using Slack for Bonterra Impact Management. The solutions covered in this webinar can also be deployed for Microsoft Teams.
Interested in deploying notification automations for Bonterra Impact Management? Contact us at sales@sidekicksolutionsllc.com to discuss next steps.
Dev Dives: Train smarter, not harder – active learning and UiPath LLMs for do...UiPathCommunity
💥 Speed, accuracy, and scaling – discover the superpowers of GenAI in action with UiPath Document Understanding and Communications Mining™:
See how to accelerate model training and optimize model performance with active learning
Learn about the latest enhancements to out-of-the-box document processing – with little to no training required
Get an exclusive demo of the new family of UiPath LLMs – GenAI models specialized for processing different types of documents and messages
This is a hands-on session specifically designed for automation developers and AI enthusiasts seeking to enhance their knowledge in leveraging the latest intelligent document processing capabilities offered by UiPath.
Speakers:
👨🏫 Andras Palfi, Senior Product Manager, UiPath
👩🏫 Lenka Dulovicova, Product Program Manager, UiPath
Encryption in Microsoft 365 - ExpertsLive Netherlands 2024Albert Hoitingh
In this session I delve into the encryption technology used in Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Purview. Including the concepts of Customer Key and Double Key Encryption.
Software Delivery At the Speed of AI: Inflectra Invests In AI-Powered QualityInflectra
In this insightful webinar, Inflectra explores how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming software development and testing. Discover how AI-powered tools are revolutionizing every stage of the software development lifecycle (SDLC), from design and prototyping to testing, deployment, and monitoring.
Learn about:
• The Future of Testing: How AI is shifting testing towards verification, analysis, and higher-level skills, while reducing repetitive tasks.
• Test Automation: How AI-powered test case generation, optimization, and self-healing tests are making testing more efficient and effective.
• Visual Testing: Explore the emerging capabilities of AI in visual testing and how it's set to revolutionize UI verification.
• Inflectra's AI Solutions: See demonstrations of Inflectra's cutting-edge AI tools like the ChatGPT plugin and Azure Open AI platform, designed to streamline your testing process.
Whether you're a developer, tester, or QA professional, this webinar will give you valuable insights into how AI is shaping the future of software delivery.
Securing your Kubernetes cluster_ a step-by-step guide to success !KatiaHIMEUR1
Today, after several years of existence, an extremely active community and an ultra-dynamic ecosystem, Kubernetes has established itself as the de facto standard in container orchestration. Thanks to a wide range of managed services, it has never been so easy to set up a ready-to-use Kubernetes cluster.
However, this ease of use means that the subject of security in Kubernetes is often left for later, or even neglected. This exposes companies to significant risks.
In this talk, I'll show you step-by-step how to secure your Kubernetes cluster for greater peace of mind and reliability.
LF Energy Webinar: Electrical Grid Modelling and Simulation Through PowSyBl -...DanBrown980551
Do you want to learn how to model and simulate an electrical network from scratch in under an hour?
Then welcome to this PowSyBl workshop, hosted by Rte, the French Transmission System Operator (TSO)!
During the webinar, you will discover the PowSyBl ecosystem as well as handle and study an electrical network through an interactive Python notebook.
PowSyBl is an open source project hosted by LF Energy, which offers a comprehensive set of features for electrical grid modelling and simulation. Among other advanced features, PowSyBl provides:
- A fully editable and extendable library for grid component modelling;
- Visualization tools to display your network;
- Grid simulation tools, such as power flows, security analyses (with or without remedial actions) and sensitivity analyses;
The framework is mostly written in Java, with a Python binding so that Python developers can access PowSyBl functionalities as well.
What you will learn during the webinar:
- For beginners: discover PowSyBl's functionalities through a quick general presentation and the notebook, without needing any expert coding skills;
- For advanced developers: master the skills to efficiently apply PowSyBl functionalities to your real-world scenarios.
UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series, part 3DianaGray10
Welcome to UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series part 3. In this session, we will cover desktop automation along with UI automation.
Topics covered:
UI automation Introduction,
UI automation Sample
Desktop automation flow
Pradeep Chinnala, Senior Consultant Automation Developer @WonderBotz and UiPath MVP
Deepak Rai, Automation Practice Lead, Boundaryless Group and UiPath MVP
Key Trends Shaping the Future of Infrastructure.pdfCheryl Hung
Keynote at DIGIT West Expo, Glasgow on 29 May 2024.
Cheryl Hung, ochery.com
Sr Director, Infrastructure Ecosystem, Arm.
The key trends across hardware, cloud and open-source; exploring how these areas are likely to mature and develop over the short and long-term, and then considering how organisations can position themselves to adapt and thrive.
Unsubscribed: Combat Subscription Fatigue With a Membership Mentality by Head...
White paper : Introduction to Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) - A Detailed Review
1. Introduction to
Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)
A Detailed Review
Abstract
Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) is a new storage networking option, based on industry standards,
which is now being deployed in real world environments. This white paper provides an overview of FCoE,
describes the hardware and software components that make up the ecosystem, and explains how the
technology is expected to continue to mature over the next few years.
April 2011
3. Table of Contents
Executive summary ............................................................................................ 4
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 5
Audience ...................................................................................................................................... 6
Creation of an FCoE infrastructure ................................................................... 6
FCoE has FC inside ............................................................................................ 6
FCoE is FC over ‘Lossless Ethernet’ ................................................................ 7
Road to a converged fabric ................................................................................ 8
Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 10
Introduction to Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)
A Detailed Review 3
4. Executive summary
The question for most data center managers is not should they network their storage, but which of the many
options available should they use and for which applications can they justify the expense. Using networked
storage reduces not only capital expenses through higher utilization of resources and the ability to create
highly available configurations, but also operational expenses by allowing centralized management and
simplified backup and replication. While most companies are using networked storage, overall less than 20
percent1 of all data center servers are attached to networked storage. Virtualized servers have over an 80
percent2 network attach rate since many advanced features such as mobility and high availability cannot be
utilized if these servers are not using networked storage. It is expected that as the overall trend of server
virtualization increases that the percentage of servers attached to networked storage in the data center will
increase.
One of the reasons why more servers do not utilize networked storage is that the storage network (Fibre
Channel) is separate from the Ethernet (TCP/IP) network (see Figure 1). Fibre Channel is the predominate
choice for networked storage in the data center because it allows for the creation of a highly scalable –
hundreds or thousands of nodes – and reliable solution that can be centrally managed. For networking,
today’s servers typically have multiple 1 Gb Ethernet network interface cards (NICs). The number of NICs
in a system will vary depending on the applications on the machine, and management and security
requirements, but the number can be four, six, eight, or more NICs in a single machine. This high number
of server adapters, cables, and separate networking and storage fabrics adds to complexity and cost. As a
result, many customers would like to be able to have all applications run over a single converged network.
This goal of I/O consolidation on a unified network for all traffic leads to a savings in infrastructure
(cabling, reduced sparing, and so on) and a simplified management environment. Overall data center
trends require solutions that take up less space, draw less power, and require less cooling; suppliers are
reaching a breaking point where supporting multiple separate networks will not allow them to meet these
requirements.
Figure 1. Existing data center with separate Ethernet and FC networks
1
IDC, Worldwide Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter 2007–2011 Forecast and 2006 Vendor Shares and
Worldwide and Regional Server 2007-2011 Forecast
2
Enterprise Storage Group, Server Virtualization: The Impact on Storage, November 7, 2007
Introduction to Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)
A Detailed Review 4
5. Ethernet has been given top consideration as a potential solution for I/O consolidation due to the large
install base and broad general understanding of the technology by all IT departments. While some storage
applications can run comfortably with 1 Gb bandwidth widely available with Ethernet, many data center
solutions require the higher bandwidth solutions that Fibre Channel can supply today with 2 Gb, 4 Gb, 8
Gb, and 16 Gb options. With the maturation of 10 Gb Ethernet, however, there is an inflection point where
we have the opportunity to consolidate the many existing connections in a server to a pair of 10 Gb
Ethernet links. Blade servers and server virtualization solutions, as well as newer server bus architectures
like PCI Express 2.0, will allow infrastructure to utilize the bandwidth of 10 Gb adapters. The challenge is
in unifying storage traffic and network traffic onto the same link. Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) will
allow an Ethernet-based SAN to be introduced into the FC-based data center without breaking existing
administration tools or workflows. This is done by allowing Fibre Channel traffic to run over an Ethernet
infrastructure. Servers and storage see FCoE as FC (Figure 2) since FCoE is simply encapsulating FC over
the Ethernet portions of the connectivity, while to the server applications as well as FC SAN and FC
storage, the traffic is still FC. FCoE can be easily added into existing FC environments in contrast to
previous attempts at consolidation with iSCSI and InfiniBand, which required new drivers and a rip-and-
replace for customers that are using Fibre Channel. The security and management best practices of having
a single application per NIC will need to be revisited as part of 10 Gb Ethernet adoption.
Ethernet
Network FC Network
Driver Driver
Converged Network Adapter
Encapsulate
FC storage
Lossless Ethernet Links
FC network
FCoE
Switch
Ethernet De-Encapsulate
FC
Figure 2. FCoE environment with converged adapters at the server attached to a
converged switch
Introduction
Today’s networks use different protocols to send information between devices. Traditional Ethernet is a
family of frame-based computer networking technologies for local area networks (LANs), whereas Fibre
Channel is used for storage area networking (SANs). Fibre Channel over Ethernet, or FCoE, is a new
storage networking protocol that supports Fibre Channel natively over Ethernet. FCoE encapsulates Fibre
Channel frames into Ethernet frames, allowing them to run alongside traditional Internet Protocol (IP)
traffic. This white paper provides an overview of FCoE, describes the hardware and software components
that make up the new ecosystem, and explains how the technology is expected to mature over the next few
years.
Introduction to Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)
A Detailed Review 5
6. Audience
This white paper is intended for network and storage administrators who want to learn more about FCoE
and its benefits.
Creation of an FCoE infrastructure
FCoE requires the deployment of three new components: a Converged Network Adapter (CNA), Lossless
Ethernet Links, and an FCoE switch. The CNA provides the functions of both a standard NIC and a FC
HBA in a single adapter in the server. There are two types of CNAs available: a ―hardware‖-based solution
— where the lower-level FC (exchange and sequence management) and FCoE functions are done in
hardware — or a ―software‖ solution — where some of those functions are performed in software. When
obtaining a hardware solution from a vendor that manufacturers FC HBAs, the drivers will be the same for
both FC and FCoE adapters; this provides the least disruption and easiest integration into existing
environments. The software solutions require the development of new FC drivers that will be run in
software; one of the efforts can be found at Open-FCoE.org. The FCoE switch is the network device that
will connect to existing LAN and SAN environments. The T11 standards FC-BB-5 group
(http://www.t11.org/fcoe) created the FCoE protocol, which enables the creation of CNAs and FCoE
switches. The link that FCoE traffic uses must provide the same level of lossless behavior that can be
found with Fibre Channel environments today. The Data Center Bridging group (part of the IEEE 802.1
standards, see http://www.ieee802.org/1/pages/dcbridges.html) is investigating requirements to create an
Ethernet environment that can support storage and IPC traffic. The enhancements to Ethernet will be
discussed later, but new functionality is required in the devices and 10 Gb Ethernet is going to be the entry-
level solution. Customers have started to introduce 10 Gb Ethernet in their data centers, so the FCoE effort
is poised to help mold the technology and catch the incoming wave of adoption.
FCoE has FC inside
In creating the FCoE protocol, the goal is summed up in the name — take FC and put it over an Ethernet
infrastructure. To do this, the Fibre Channel frames are encapsulated — not translated or bridged — in an
Ethernet frame (Figure 3). The mapping is 1:1, which means that there is no segmenting of FC frames nor
are multiple FC frames put in a single Ethernet frame. It is a requirement that all devices for FCoE
(adapters and switches along the path) support mini-jumbo frames to allow the largest FC frame to be
supported without segmentation. Flow control of FCoE is controlled by Priority Flow Control mechanisms
rather than by the buffer credits of FC. The naming conventions for FCoE port types are very similar to
FC:
N_Ports (HBAs and storage) are VN_Ports (CNAs or FCoE storage).
F_Ports (fabric ports) are VF_Ports (FCoE switch ports that attach to VN_Ports).
E_Ports (switch to switch) are VE_Ports (ports between two FCoE Ethernet switches).
Introduction to Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)
A Detailed Review 6
7. Figure 3. FCoE frame format
In Fibre Channel, security is typically not high on the list of discussion points. In the early days of FC, the
small-scale physical security and optical cabling were usually sufficient for customers. The Fibre Channel
Security Protocols standard (FC-SP) was approved in 2004 and addresses how to protect against security
breaches. Ethernet has its own well-established security practices, so the standards were only concerned
with specific threats that are not covered in a typical Ethernet environment. An issue of concern was that
while FC links are always private (two ends), FCoE links can be shared (three-plus ends) due to the nature
of Layer 2 Ethernet. Access Control Lists (ACLs) will be used to specify on a port basis what operations
are allowed to be performed, similar to the protection provided by a firewall. A feature called ―Dynamic
ACLs‖ is supported by the FCoE switches to reduce the administrative burden of manually configuring
ACLs.
FC-BB-5, the T11 standard for FCoE was ratified in June 2009.
FCoE is FC over ‘Lossless Ethernet’
The Ethernet infrastructure, over which FCoE will travel, must be of a lossless nature. Since the FCoE
protocol does not contain TCP, any lost packets would require recovery at the SCSI layer. In a typical
environment, based on existing Ethernet, this would happen much too often to be usable for storage
environments. Fortunately, the Ethernet community has been looking at the issue of creating a lossless
environment for a number of years. The set of features required to support lossless behavior is referred to
as Data Center Bridging (DCB) and is being worked on by the IEEE DCB working group. The first set of
features is link level protocols and by definition only covers the link between two devices (that is, either an
adapter and switch port or two switch ports); they are Priority Flow Control (PFC) and Enhanced
Transmission Selection (ETS).
Even before FCoE was conceived, there was a PAUSE function (Link Pause, IEEE 802.3, Annex 31B) that
would allow for the creation of a lossless environment by stopping all traffic on a port when a full queue
condition was achieved. The problem with classical PAUSE is that you cannot specify which traffic should
be lossless, and as a result there is no mechanism to deal with the congestion created on all classes of traffic
when a PAUSE is issued. Priority Flow Control (IEEE 802.1Qbb) creates a new PAUSE function that can
halt traffic according to the priority tag while allowing traffic at other priority levels to continue.
Introduction to Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)
A Detailed Review 7
8. Administrators use the eight lanes defined in IEEE 802.1p to create virtual lossless lanes for traffic classes
like storage (that require lossless behavior) and lossy lanes for other classes.
In order to make sure that one traffic stream does not take too much of the overall bandwidth, the addition
of Enhanced Transmission Selection (IEEE 802.1Qaz) is important for creating an environment where
storage and other traffic can share the same link. A common management framework can be created for
bandwidth management. High-priority traffic like storage can be prioritized and allocated bandwidth while
still allowing other traffic classes to utilize the bandwidth when it is not being fully utilized.
The Data Center Bridging Exchange Protocol (DCBX) is responsible for the configuration of link
parameters for Data Center Bridging functions. It determines which devices support the enhanced
functionalities that create the ―DCB‖ cloud where FCoE traffic can safely travel. It also allows for
transparent pass-through for non-DCB traffic classes.
These link level enhancements start to create a safe
environment for FCoE traffic. PFC, ETS, and DCBX have Virtualization and FCoE
all been defined and therefore solutions that have these Currently, server virtualization
functions shipping today should be able to support FCoE. environments (including VMware and
Microsoft Hyper-V) can choose among
As the configurations expand, there are additional Ethernet FC, iSCSI, and NAS for networked
enhancements beyond link level that will increase storage. The hypervisor has a storage
performance. Congestion Notification (IEEE 802.1Qau) is driver stack that presents FC (from an
a development to manage congestion beyond the link level. HBA) and iSCSI (from a NIC) traffic to
This is desirable when a link is reaching a PAUSE individual virtual machines (VMs) or
condition and the source of the traffic can be alerted and guests as storage. There is also a virtual
throttled appropriately, reducing congestion out of the switch in the hypervisor that sends
network core. While not necessary to support FCoE, an traditional LAN traffic to the VM/guest as
additional enhancement to optimize Ethernet for storage network traffic. FCoE solutions using a
environments is Layer 2 multipathing. Ethernet solutions CNA will function equivalently as
today use Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), which only existing solutions – the CNA will convert
supports a single active path between any two network FCoE traffic to FC packets in the
nodes. The IETF standards group has created TRILL hardware, so the hypervisor and VM/guest
(TRansparent Interconnection of Lots of Links), which will still work as if physical FC HBAs and
allows for increased bandwidth by allowing and NICs were installed. Software FCoE
aggregating multiple network paths. solutions with a standard NIC will require
additional developments before they can
be used. Currently hypervisors will not
Road to a converged fabric identify FCoE traffic that is still
Many customers are already running their storage traffic encapsulated and virtual switches
over Ethernet by utilizing iSCSI or NAS; FCoE is not (including the Cisco Nexus 1000V in
designed to replace these solutions. For customers that VMware® ESX®) do not have Lossless
have an existing infrastructure and knowledge base of FC, Ethernet functionality, so sending traffic
FCoE provides a path toward reaching a converged fabric. directly to the VM/guest would not be
FCoE, iSCSI, and NAS will all leverage 10 Gigabit reliable. FCoE will expand the available
Ethernet. In general, iSCSI environments tend to be small storage networking solutions options for
configurations with under 100 servers, while most FC the high-growth server virtualization
customers are scaling into hundreds or thousands of nodes; market. Moving to a converged fabric
FCoE can be plugged in to these existing environments. will simplify mobility by reducing the
10 Gigabit Ethernet will provide the common number of networks that need to be
infrastructure that can support FCoE, iSCSI, and NAS moved. It also allows a standard
(Figure 4), all of which can be used in virtualization configuration to be built, allowing for
environments, and customers will choose based upon their flexible storage deployment.
requirements and skill set.
Introduction to Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)
A Detailed Review 8
9. 10 Gigabit
Ethernet Fibre
Channel
common management
common infrastructure
virtualization
Figure 4. 10 Gigabit Ethernet common infrastructure for storage
All new technologies take time to develop a robust ecosystem, and FCoE is no exception. Since FCoE
builds on the existing infrastructure, it can be rolled out in a phased manner. Today FCoE can support
convergence at the server, in which the separate network (NIC) and storage (HBA) interfaces on the server
are replaced by the CNA that is directly attached to the FCoE switch. A new rack of servers can deploy
these technologies, while the existing storage and network environments remain unchanged. FCoE can
also support convergence at the storage port and on switch-to-switch links, allowing for an end-to-end
(FCoE multi-hop) configuration to be created.
Recently, FCoE solutions started to expand beyond a single switch at the access layer into multi-hop
configurations. While the industry continues to work on the technical issues of expanding FCoE solutions,
customers should review the structure of their storage and networking groups to make sure that there are
not any ―political‖ issues over who owns the purchase, installation, and maintenance of the CNA and FCoE
switch components in a converged network environment. Some of the enhancements to Ethernet will be
new to network administrators who will need to learn these functions and will require coordination with
storage administrators. The overlapping domains may compel cultural adjustments, as storage networks
will no longer be dedicated and network configurations can no longer be reconfigured at-will. Network and
storage administrators will each have their own management interfaces to the environments, keeping tasks
separate rather than converged.
As director-class products that support FCoE are released into the market, building FCoE multi-hop
configurations that include native FCoE storage begins to make sense.
No discussion of FCoE is complete without addressing the cabling infrastructure supporting the solution.
When customers deploy a physical cabling infrastructure, they are looking for solutions that can be used for
five to ten years. For 1 Gigabit Ethernet, the primary options for cabling are copper (1000Base-T with RJ-
45 connectors) and optical (same physical cabling as FC); copper dominates this market with billions of
ports installed while optical has historically been 1 percent of Ethernet ports3. A standard (10GBase-T) for
using existing copper cabling (either CAT 6 or CAT 6a with RJ-45 connectors) is available but not
expected to start shipping for FCoE solutions until 2012. A new copper option known as Twinax has
become available for FCoE solutions of 10 Gigabit Ethernet. The option is based on the SFF-8431
standard and uses the SFP+ interface for a copper connection that is low cost and low power. The Twinax
solution is limited to short distances, supporting between 1-10 meters, which is sufficient for server to top-
3
IEEE Installed Cabling market data (http://ieee802.org/3/10GBT/public/jan03/flatman_1_0103.pdf)
Introduction to Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)
A Detailed Review 9
10. of-rack or end-of-row switch environments. Standard multimode optical cabling will be used for
environments that require longer distances such as from the rack to the core.
Conclusion
FCoE is a natural extension of FC networks that will allow data centers to leverage converged I/O and
extend the operational efficiencies of networked storage to a new wave of servers. Server, storage, and
networking vendors have all invested heavily to create converged fabric technologies. There is a robust
FCoE ecosystem that will continue to expand and mature over time.
Introduction to Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)
A Detailed Review 10