iFCP (Internet Fibre Channel Protocol)
iFCP (Internet Fibre Channel Protocol) is an emerging standard for extending
Fibre Channel storage networks across the Internet. iFCP provides a means of passing data to and from Fibre Channel storage devices in a local storage area network (
SAN) or on the Internet using
TCP/IP.
TCP provides
congestion control as well as error detection and recovery services. iFCP merges existing SCSI and Fibre Channel networks into the Internet. iFCP can either replace or be used in conjunction with existing Fibre Channel protocols, such as
FCIP (Fibre Channel over IP).
iFCP addresses some problems that FCIP does not. For example, FCIP is a tunneling protocol that simply encapsulates Fibre Channel data and forwards it over a TCP/IP network as an extension of the existing Fibre Channel network. However, FCIP is only equipped to work within the Fibre Channel environment, while the storage industry trend is increasingly towards the Internet-based storage area network. Because iFCP gateways can either replace or complement existing Fibre Channel fabrics, iFCP can be used to facilitate migration from a Fibre Channel SAN to an IP SAN or a hybrid network.
This was last updated in June 2002
Dig Deeper
-
A sneak peek at Storage magazine's August 2011 issue. Learn more about the state of backup deduplication, storage virtualization and new trends in data storage.
-
A sneak peek at Storage magazine's July 2011 issue. Learn more about backing up virtual servers, performance tips and how to turn your data center storage into a storage cloud.
-
Download Storage magazine's all-digital issue at no cost. This month: The benefits, functions, future outlook and buying considerations for automated tiered storage technologies.
-
People who read this also read...
-
Resources from around the Web