FCoE (Fibre Channel over Ethernet)

Fibre Channel supports high-speed data connections between computing devices that interconnect servers with shared storage devices and between storage controllers and drives. FCoE retains the same device communications but substitutes high-speed Ethernet links (usually, 1 Gbps or faster) for Fibre Channel links between devices. FCoE works with standard Ethernet cards, cables, and switches to handle Fibre Channel traffic at the link layer, using Ethernet frames to encapsulate, route, and transport FC frames across an Ethernet network from one switch with Fibre Channel ports and devices attached to another, similarly-equipped switch.

Given recent progress toward an Ethernet 802.3ba standard that supports maximum bandwidths of 40 Gbps and 100 Gbps, it's easy to envision that these technologies will propel FCoE to higher speeds than current Fibre Channel and Ethernet links deliver (As of December 2007, current links top out between 4 and 10 Gbps.). FCoE is most likely to appear in multi-protocol switches that include both Fibre Channel and Ethernet ports, in which the transmitting switch encapsulates Fibre Channel frames inside Ethernet packets for LAN (local area network) transmission and the receiving switch reverses that process before emitting Fibre Channel frames out a Fibre channel port. Vendors that offer both FCoE and iSCSI products that perform similar functions see this technology as complementary rather than competitive.

Networking and storage companies backing FCoE include Cisco, Emulex, Brocade Communications, EMC, Intel, QLogic, and Sun Microsystems.

Learn more about Fibre Channel (FC) SAN

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More resources from around the web: - Chuck Hollis of EMC explains 'Why FCoE works for me.' - This Storage Magazine article makes the case for FCIP and FCoE. - Jon Stokes' Ars Technica story, 'Coalition pushes Fiber Channel-over-Ethernet spec,' describes the companies behind FCoE, what FCoE promises, and where this technology could lead.

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