Ethernet Enhancements for Storage: Deploying FCoE

A key challenge that the network and storage industries are now facing is the abundance of new high speed interconnect protocols proposed for future data center applications. What customers really want is to reduce the number of disparate networks and minimize the complexity surrounding the management of their data centers. In this presentation we take a peek into what the future may hold for high speed fabrics and investigate the potential for their unification. We will provide a market and technical overview of the competitive landscape for next generation 10GbE technologies with particular focus on the operational characteristics and implementation aspects of Ethernet. The audience will learn how hardware, software, standards and innovations driving the vision of a unified fabric utilizing 10GE for the data center of the future. Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) is a key technology that allows IT managers to transport Fibre Channel (Storage) traffic over a standard 10GbE network. There are tremendous benefits for implementing FCoE in terms of reducing cost and power of deployed networks. The session will provide an end-to-end view of implementing FCoE and evaluate its benefits from a host and switch perspective.