Data Center iSCSI: Building next generation storage networks

Data Center iSCSI – Building next generation storage networks

I/OConsolidation

Thereareseveraltrendsdrivingtheneedforfastern etworking, includingmulti‐coreCPU’s,server

virtualizationandanincreaseduseofnetworkedstorage.Today’smulti‐coreprocessorsallowdata

centerdesignerstoconsolidatelogicalinfrastructureontofewerphysicalsystemsthroughserver

virtualization.Thishasdrivenacorrespondingrequire mentforgreaterI/Oalongwiththemoveto

virtualservers.CompoundingthisistheincreasedI/Oconnectivitybetweenserversandstorage.

Allofthesefactorsaredrivingtheadoptionof10GbEthernet,whichispushingdownthecostofhigh‐

speedports.Untilrecently ,10GbEthernetportsweremoreexpensivethan4and8GbFCports.In

2009,pricingparitywasreached,andwiththeadoptionoflowcost10GbELANonMother(LOM)

controllers10GbEthernetisnowoutshipping8GFCports,andisexpectedtoincreaseitslead.

Oneissueplaguingsystemdeploymentshasbeenthatasinglehighspeed,lowcostnetworkthatcan

supportprocessingandstoragerequirementshasnotbeenavailable.Whatisneededisanetwork,able

tosupportbothLANandSANrequirementsatsignificantlyhigherdatarates,costeffectively.

EnhancedEthernet–TheFutureofNetworking

Recently,storageandnetworkingvendorshavecreateaconverged,multi‐protocolnetworkusingan

enhancedversionofEthernet.Thenewly improvedversionofEthernetisontracktobecomea

standard,delivering10GbEthernetforuseasatransportforSANprotocols.Thenameforthis

enhancedversionisEthernetDCB(forDataCenterBridging).Theimplicationsarefar‐reaching;all

storageprotocolsusingthenewDCBEthernetwillseeabenefit.

Tosome,thethoughtofusingconvergedEthernetmeansmovingstorageprotocolstoaLAN.Thisisnot

thecase,asthenewDCBEthernethasthecharacteristicsofstoragenetworks,includingvirtual

channels,priorityandquality,guaranteeddelivery,redundantconnectionsandtransparentfailover.

TheEthernetDCBstandardstransformEthernetintoanetworktransportthatprovidesreliabledelivery

ofdata,alongwithpredictableperformance,congestionmanagementandflowcontrol,muchlikeFi bre

Channel.

NetworkConvergence

Thereareanincreasingnumberofalternativesforconnectingserversandstorage,includingiSCSI,Fibre

ChanneloverEthernet(FCoE)andFibreChannel.Thesechoicesallowcompaniestohavemoreflexibility

whencreatingspecificsolutions,choosingfileproto colsforapplicationsthatworkwithunstructured

data,andblockprotocolssuchasiSCSIorFCoEforapplicationsrequiringaccesstostructureddata,such

asdatabasesorfile‐systems.

WiththeemergenceofconvergedEthernet,eve nlar georganiza tionswithheavyrelianceonFCSAN

infrastructuresarebeginningtorethinktheirlong‐termstrategyandroadmapsfornewstorageandSAN

deployments.

EvaluatorGroupComment:Aconverged,flexiblenetworkinfrastructurewillallow

ITadministratorstochoosewhichstorageprotocolstoutilize,ratherthanbeing

forcedtouseaprotocolspecificnetwork.Ethernetisbecomingthelogicalchoice

asthebestnetworktechnologyforprotocolsinbothlargeandsmallenterprises.

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