How to compare Fibre Channel (FC) and SCSI

A SearchStorage.com reader recently asked:

How do you compare SCSI based storage technology with Fibre Channel based, and how do you compare them if the storage size is maximum 2 terabytes (TB)?

Two important steps to compare different technologies, in this case SCSI and Fibre Channel (FC) based storage, is to understand the applicable technology and your requirements. Understanding your requirements will help you determine which differences in the technology are relevant and important to your specific needs. An understanding of the technologies is important to be able to make fair and relative comparisons and avoid making apples to oranges comparisons.

So, here are a few things to...

BROWSE BY TAG SAN (storage area network),   Fibre Channel (FC) SAN,   Primary Storage or Storage Hardware,   Disk drives,   ISCSI SAN,   VIEW ALL TAGS

RELATED CONTENT Fibre Channel (FC) SAN EMC: No plans to kill Clariion Director switch comparison: Brocade DCX Backbone versus Cisco Systems MDS 9500 Fibre Channel SAN: Upgrading to 8 Gbps for storage networks a logical step as prices drop 8 Gbps Fibre Channel: Price driving adoption of the SAN storage technology Adoption of 8 Gbps Fibre Channel protocol expected to soar this year after sluggish start I/O virtualization and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE): How do they differ? I/O virtualization: Approaches and implementations Storage networking equipment finalists: 2009 Products of the Year Cisco consolidates data storage services; launches data migration appliance Compellent Storage Center 5 adds portable volume option for replication Disk drives SAS drives showing up more and more Disks and disk subsystems finalists: 2009 Products of the Year SAS challenges Fibre Channel drives Primary storage data reduction advancing via data deduplication, compression NetApp: Post-process deduplication limits performance hit in primary storage data deduplication EMC Celerra: Primary storage data reduction through deduplication, compression Storwize claims good data compression rates, no performance degradation on STN-6000 appliance Primary storage data reduction: Data deduplication and compression tools Gartner analyst on data deduplication for primary storage Ocarina ECOsystem deconstructs before compression, deduplication for primary storage data reduction Disk drives Research ISCSI SAN Storage networking equipment finalists: 2009 Products of the Year Caltrol refreshes data storage infrastructure with Pillar Data Systems iSCSI SAN Factors to consider when implementing Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) College finds early adoption of 10 Gigabit Ethernet iSCSI SAN a learning experience Pivot3 and Seanodes increase performance, scalability of iSCSI storage products Storage Decisions Chicago 2009 Session Downloads Storage Decisions Session Downloads: Storage Systems & Storage Management Track (Chicago 2009) Storage Decisions Session Downloads: Managing Storage Networks Track (Chicago 2009) QLogic buys NetXen for 10 Gigabit Ethernet silicon HP carves up blade storage with LeftHand software ISCSI SAN Research

RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary enterprise storage  (SearchStorage.com) Fast Guide to Storage Technologies  (WhatIs.com) FCoE (Fibre Channel over Ethernet)  (SearchStorage.com) Fibre Channel  (SearchStorage.com) Fibre Channel over IP  (SearchStorage.com) host bus adapter  (SearchStorage.com) iFCP  (SearchStorage.com) IP storage  (SearchStorage.com) SAN island  (SearchStorage.com) storage area network  (SearchStorage.com)

RELATED RESOURCES 2020software.com, trial software downloads for accounting software, ERP software, CRM software and business software systems Search Bitpipe.com for the latest white papers and business webcasts Whatis.com, the online computer dictionary

consider and understand. Are you looking at and comparing storage systems with SCSI or Fibre Channel host ports (front-end)? Are you comparing back-end SCSI or FC disk ports and drives? Or, is it a combination? For example, a storage system could have FC host ports, yet utilize SCSI or emerging SAS disk drives.

From a disk drive perspective, FC, SCSI and SAS are about equal in terms of performance, reliability, capacity and features including dual-porting. From a host storage interface, SCSI can be less expensive due to lower costs by eliminating switches and using embedded server or low cost SCSI adapters. FC, on the other hand, provides more flexibility in terms of distance, flexible topologies and number of devices and servers that can be attached. From a performance standpoint, for most applications either SCSI (Ultra160 and Ultra320) or FC should be sufficient. Another alternative for block-based storage access would be to use iSCSI- or a SAS-based controller to attach emerging SAS-based storage to servers.

If your requirements are for 2 TB of storage, clarify whether you are referring to usable or raw capacity. For example, if you need 2 TB of usable storage and plan on using mirroring for data protection, you will need 4 TB of storage plus any applicable spare disk drives. There are many vendors whose products can scale up to 2 TB, or put another way, scale down to 2 TB, including the EMC AX100, HDS WMS100, HP MSA, IBM (DS400, DS300, DS4100, N3700), Sun/STK 3000 series and Xiotech Magnitude 3D 3000e among others.

For more information:

The slow move toward faster Fibre

Rate this Tip To rate tips, you must be a member of SearchStorage.com. Register now to start rating these tips. Log in if you are already a member. DISCLAIMER: Our Tips Exchange is a forum for you to share technical advice and expertise with your peers and to learn from other enterprise IT professionals. TechTarget provides the infrastructure to facilitate this sharing of information. However, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or validity of the material submitted. You agree that your use of the Ask The Expert services and your reliance on any questions, answers, information or other materials received through this Web site is at your own risk.