FCoE

Server virtualization, the growth of digital data, and the adoption of Web 2.0 applications are driving the need for highly flexible, highly scalable, and high performing data center architectures. Organizations are looking to leverage existing Ethernet infrastructure—Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) allows organizations to extend the reliability and network services benefits of Fibre Channel to Ethernet networks.

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Extending the Value of Fibre Channel
Brocade develops robust Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) solutions to help IT organizations extend Fibre Channel reliability, performance, and intelligence within a Converged Enhanced Ethernet (CEE) infrastructure—enabling them to consolidate multiple transport layers in a single physical interconnect.

A Powerful New Technology
As organizations embrace promising new technologies, they need to make sure they can continue leveraging the benefits of their existing IT investments. Brocade is focused on not only protecting but extending Fibre Channel investments with new solutions as part of a CEE infrastructure.

Currently being developed by a consortium of vendors, CEE is a much more robust and reliable technology than traditional Ethernet. By design, CEE augments Fibre Channel by enabling the Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) protocol, which extends the reliability and services benefits of Fibre Channel to environments that have traditionally relied exclusively on Ethernet.

Although FCoE is still relatively early in its development, many organizations are conducting proof-of-concept testing, focusing on the server edge for initial deployments of FCoE in the near future.

An Evolutionary Approach
The strategic Brocade Data Center Fabric (DCF) architecture is designed to integrate existing and future technologies, enabling organizations to leverage FCoE when and where it is cost-effective to do so. As a result, they can deploy FCoE on their own schedule without having to rip and replace their existing solutions.

Utilizing CEE networks, organizations will be able to share a single physical transport layer for multiple protocols, including TCP/IP, InfiniBand, and FCoE. This level of consolidation helps:

  • Eliminate extraneous hardware and cabling
  • Reduce capital and operational expenses
  • Mitigate complexity to simplify IT management
  • Reduce power consumption and the carbon footprint of the data center

Brocade Server I/O Convergence with FCoE
Brocade is helping to drive the FCoE standard and taking an evolutionary approach to deliver the right solutions for building CEE networks. As the standards become more defined and the technology more robust, FCoE solutions will ultimately move from the server edge into the core of the data center.

Brocade is developing a wide range of solutions that provide the most flexibility in terms of deploying FCoE in current infrastructures. These initial solutions will provide the ability to converge server I/O for a wide range of server types:

  • Rack server I/O convergence with top-of-the-rack FCoE switches
  • Blade server I/O convergence with mezzanine adapters
  • Rack server with standup adapters
  • Pedestal server with standup adapters
  • Blade server I/O convergence with blade server FCoE switch modules
  • High-end server I/O convergence with FCoE blades for Brocade DCX Backbones

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Connectivity Resources

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Abstract:

Describes and illustrates scenarios that demonstrate how the Brocade DCX Backbone platform can be added non-disruptively into the core of existing Storage Area Networks (SANs) and new data center fabrics.

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This guide describes best practices for incorporating cabling in a typical data center, plus tips for selecting cabling components and information on data transmission media.

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Details the transition from a mixed ESCON and FICON infrastructure to a pure FICON infrastructure ss part of a thoughtfully planned and managed process.

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This paper explores the various approaches Brocade is taking toward heterogeneous fabric connectivity following its acquisition of McDATA.

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This paper describes how FastWrite, a Brocade capability available in Brocade SAN Routers, addresses the performance issues of SCSI write operations over long-distance, high-latency links.

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This paper describes the basics of Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), how FCoE solutions fit into data centers, and how Brocade is driving standardization efforts.

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This paper from Enterprise Strategy Group explains how Brocade storage networking solutions provide a reliable enabling platform for facilitating scalable server virtualization.

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This paper explains how the Brocade Data Center Fabric enables organizations to build next-generation data centers with reduced cost, increased flexibility, and minimized risk.

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This detailed paper explains the technical story behind the emerging Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) protocol, including how it helps extend existing Fibre Channel investments.

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This paper outlines the advantages—from greater efficiency to cost savings—of switching FICON over implementing a direct-attached FICON architecture.