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Executive summary
4 Booting VMware ESXi from FCoE
Executive summary
Traditional SCSI was designed to transport Storage Area Network (SAN) traffic between devices in a fabric
with shorter distance. Data transport was quick and reliable, but over a short distance. Ethernet was
developed to overcome this problem by transporting data over long distances. But the dependency on
transmission mechanics such as TCP and UDP brings in latency (especially during TCP retransmission).
FCoE combines the best of both worlds by transporting Fibre Channel SAN traffic encapsulated over Ethernet
networks which also cuts down the overall capital and operational cost. With FCoE, the native FC protocol is
preserved yet leveraging the use of SCSI directly over Ethernet unlike iSCSI which sends SCSI over TCP/IP
which can introduce latency over the network.
VMware ESXi supports booting from FCoE capable network adapters in Dell EMC PowerEdge servers.
When ESXi is installed from an FCoE LUN, the host requires a dedicated CNA with FCoE capabilities.