FCoE is Ready for Market Adoption

QLogic Corp. announced the results of the Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) Test Drive conducted June 4-7, 2008 in San Diego.

Based on the results, QLogic, Cisco and NetApp validated that Fibre Channel over Ethernet technology is ready for quick adoption by end users. A total of 14 storage, server and software vendors ran device drivers, device management software, network management software, storage management software and business applications on an FCoE network. Participants found their hardware products and software applications easily recognized Fibre Channel and FCoE devices because the FCoE network appeared to their products as just another Fibre Channel network. The ability of converged FCoE networks to simplify life for IT professionals and the 100 percent compatibility of FCoE networks with Fibre Channel networks are strong indicators that end-user adoption will be easy and swift.

“In our opinion, FCoE is ready to be tested by those customers that want to run their storage traffic over a single, 10Gb converged fabric,” said Dennis Martin, founder and president of computer industry analyst firm Demartek, a third party auditor of the test drive. “During the FCoE Test Drive, we found that all applications ran correctly, unaware of any difference in the underlying hardware interface. While we recognize that enterprise infrastructures take a number of years to change and some minor protocol issues still need to be resolved, we believe that FCoE will soon take its place as a viable, stable enterprise-ready protocol, especially as enterprises consider and deploy 10Gb Enhanced Ethernet networks.”
 
“All FCoE traffic on the test drive went through the Cisco Nexus 5000 Series 10 Gigabit Ethernet switches and ran seamlessly with all the other FCoE products in the test drive,” said Ed Chapman, Cisco vice president of product management for the Server Access and Virtualization Business Unit. “We are very encouraged by the prospects of FCoE market acceptance due to the fact that it is a non-disruptive technology, which customers can deploy at their own pace to unify their network infrastructures, and offers significant savings in adapter and cable investment as well as in power and cooling costs.”
 
“NetApp is in a unique position, through its unified, multi-protocol architecture, to deliver on the promise of network unification through Ethernet storage, enable the consolidation of multiple transport protocols into a single infrastructure, and continue to enhance traditional Fibre Channel storage investments,” said Patrick Rogers, vice president of Solutions Marketing at NetApp. “The FCoE Test Drive results further verify that the implementation of FCoE solutions will allow customers to leverage the proven benefits of Fibre Channel and the simplicity and economics of Ethernet fabrics.”
 
“The ability to converge data and storage networking traffic through a single adapter greatly simplifies life in the data center, as evidenced by this test drive,” said Frank Berry, vice president of marketing, QLogic Corp. “Our CNAs appeared to everyone’s products in this ecosystem as Fibre Channel adapters. Because the operating system handles a CNA like just another Fibre Channel adapter, nothing changes for customers as they move to implement FCoE. This protects customers existing Fibre Channel investments while making it easy to transition in the future to FCoE solutions from companies like QLogic, Cisco and NetApp.”
 
Other FCoE Test Drive participants included Computer Associates, DataDirect Networks, EMC, FalconStor, Finisar, HP, Infortrend, LSI, Microsoft, MiraLink, Promise Technology and Symantec.
 
Fibre Channel over Ethernet
Unifying Data and Storage Networks
FCoE, the standard for transporting Fibre Channel frames over Ethernet, is designed to make converged networks possible for data centers. With converged networks now on the way to becoming a reality, servers will no longer require separate interfaces for data and storage networking. IT professionals can increase functionality while reducing cost and complexity by using a single set of cables and switches.

More about the FCoE Test Drive