Storage Management Strategies for the CIO
FC is used to transmit data
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between computer devices at data rates of up to 4 Gbps. It has been widely reported that FC will offer data transfer rates of 8 and and 10 Gbps in the near future, but some analysts remain skeptical about these claims. Regardless, its speed and reliablility have been the major factors driving FC's adoption, and it has begun to replace the Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) as the transmission interface between servers and clustered storage devices in many storage networks (FC is three times as fast as SCSI).Learn whether FC is right for your organization by browsing the links below.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Beginner's Fibre Channel Evaluating network protocols Pros/cons of Fibre Channel The new wave: Low-cost Fibre Channel Latest Fibre Channel news/developments Library of SAN/NAS tips
Test, test, test. That's the advice from expert Chris Poelker whenever evaluating any product you plan on bringing into your data center. In this tip, Chris lists 10 things you must consider before you make your choice. To help make your research a breeze, SearchStorage.com has gathered the best news, expert Q&As, tips and quick guides on the various network protocols. This Featured Topic is geared to help you evaluate each protocol. Storage expert Chris Poelker tackles this important and common question. Storage expert Greg Schulz compares and contrasts FC and iSCSI. Storage expert Randy Kerns discusses the problems associated with using FC and ATA disks on the same array. Fibre Channel vendors have been talking up a move to 4 Gbps, with possibilities of 8 Gbps or 10 Gbps shimmering on the horizon, but some analysts remain skeptical.
Greg Schulz discusses what enables FC and SCSI disk drives to have higher resiliency compared to high capacity ATA and SATA disks. Storage expert Marc Staimer offers insight on FC and backup. Find out how to avoid making apples-to-oranges comparisons when considering new technology. This advice details the differences between iSCSI and Fibre Channel (FC) SANs. Security expert Vijay Ahuja discusses FC vulnerablities. Greg Schulz discusses protocol analyzers and other tools that support Fibre Channel analysis. Greg Schulz offers an in depth answer to the question: Do we connect a CAT 5 cable to the SAN switch in order to assign an IP? Chris Poelker discusses how to calculate your connection ratio (also called a fan in ratio) when setting up a storage subsystem. Expedient swaps out an EMC Symmetrix for a Nexsan ATA array and claims it has seen no performance degradation. It has seen a massive drop in its cost. Join Christopher Poelker, co-author, "Storage Area Networks for Dummies" for a webcast on how to create a full scale network by tying SANs together. This lesson looks at how to extend the SAN, connectivity between SANs and SAN islands, IP storage, virtualization (in-band, out-of-band) and SW/HW pooling.
A lot can happen in a couple of years. Two years ago, storage salespeople's unofficial modus operandi was to ignore storage area network (SAN) buyers that didn't have at least $250,000 to spend. Now, a new Fibre Channel (FC) switch from QLogic, the SANbox 5200, has a street price of under $500/port. With midsized businesses on its mind, Big Blue debuts low-priced servers that support both iSCSI and Fibre Channel. In an effort to win back market share among enterprise users, HP has introduced a SAN starter kit for the Enterprise Virtual Array.
The Fibre Channel-connected disk drives that populate midrange arrays may soon give way to a new generation of SAS drives. Engenio will unveil today the first storage array to offer native InfiniBand support promising users high-speed connectivity without the complexity of Fibre Channel. Recently announced SAS products have renewed the debate over whether SAS will push out Fibre Channel or SATA in the data center. Randy Kerns, a senior partner at Evaluator Group, offers his recommendations for mixing Fibre Channel and SATA drives in a single midrange array. Do organizations really need 4 Gbps technology, when many of them aren't taking full advantage of 2 Gbps? A large IT service provider in Europe running systems for over 80 banks has deployed an EqualLogic iSCSI SAN and is retiring Fibre Channel. The FCIA has approved 8 Gbps Fibre Channel, but are they going too fast? The near future will see a lot of confusion in FC bandwidth options, with 4, 8 and ultimately 10GB coming on the market. At the same time, HBA prices are under pressure. And what's being done to improve HBA manageability and interoperability? Marc Staimer, Founder of Dragon Slayer Consulting, examines these issues.
Do you see anything missing in this guide? E-mail us your comments and suggestions. |
Beginner's Fibre Channel
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