Users Guide

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14 Data Center Bridging
This chapter provides the following information about the data center bridging
feature:
 Overview
 “DCB Capabilities” on page 249
 “Configuring DCB” on page 250
 “DCB Conditions” on page 250
 “Data Center Bridging in Windows Server 2012 and Later” on page 251
Overview
Data center bridging (DCB) is a collection of IEEE specified standard extensions
to Ethernet to provide lossless data delivery, low latency, and standards-based
bandwidth sharing of data center physical links. DCB supports storage,
management, computing, and communications fabrics onto a single physical
fabric that is simpler to deploy, upgrade, and maintain than in standard Ethernet
networks. DCB has a standards-based bandwidth sharing at its core, allowing
multiple fabrics to coexist on the same physical fabric. The various capabilities of
DCB allow for LAN traffic (large quantity of flows and not latency-sensitive), SAN
traffic (large packet sizes and requires lossless performance), and IPC
(latency-sensitive messages) to bandwidth share the same physical converged
connection and achieve the necessary individual traffic performance.
DCB includes the following capabilities:
 Enhanced transmission selection (ETS)
 Priority-based flow control (PFC)
 Data center bridging exchange (DCBX) protocol