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Published: 19 Oct 2012
Exploring new options for disk-based backup

This article is part of the Vol. 4 No. 4 June 2005 issue of Exploring new options for disk-based backup

What switches support which protocol Brocade Communications Systems Inc.: Now supports FCIP, but had relied on Computer Network Technology (CNT) Corp. partnerships to provide distance solutions. Cisco Systems Inc.: Heavily invested in FCIP with a rich but proprietary feature set. CNT: Supports FCIP. McData may support both protocols after its acquisition of the firm. McData: iFCP after buying Nishan Systems. Growth is one of the most difficult challenges facing storage managers with Fibre Channel (FC) SANs because the FC protocol, by design, sacrificed scalability for speed. The Internet Protocol (IP) and the Ethernet network offer scalability that two variations of the FC protocol--iFCP and FCIP--use to connect SAN islands and overcome FC networking limitations. Unfortunately, each switch vendor supports only a proprietary version of iFCP or FCIP (see What switches support which protocol, this page). Storage managers need to understand the high-level differences between these two protocols to make better decisions on which protocol/switch best fits their ... Access >>>

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What's Inside

Features
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    • iFCP vs. FCIP

      Two protocols—iFCP and FCIP—tap the scalability of the Internet Protocol and Ethernet networks, and can be used to overcome Fibre Channel networking limitations when connecting SAN islands. But iFCP and FCIP operate very differently; find out which one is right for your environment.

    • Is the time right for optical storage?

      Optical storage has languished on the periphery of enterprise storage, but new technologies with higher capacities and more competitive per-gigabyte prices are moving optical into the mainstream.

    • Directors take on more tasks by Phil Goodwin

      The competition among director-class products has never been more intense. If you're considering directors for the first time, or re-examining your fabric strategy, here's what you need to know.

    • New backup strategies

      In the final installment of his series on disk-based data protection, W. Curtis Preston describes how options such as snapshots, replication, continuous data protection and data reduction backup can improve the backup process.

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