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There has been a lot of news over the last several months about FCoE and its applicability in the data center. With the advent of 10GbE and the premise of data center unification I can understand why this technology has gotten legs. Joining the ranks of iSCSI, iFCP, and FCIP, FCoE offers the consumer yet another means to shove block based data traffic over an Ethernet network.  But unlike the former protocols,  FCoE is purely touted as a “Data Center” protocol, non-routable and connection oriented much like FC.

The practicality of this protocol comes into play with the use of a CNA or Converged Network Adapter, ultimately replacing the need for Ethernet NICs and FC HBAs. Less adapters equates to less cabling, less power and less complexity. Paradisiacal, huh???

Well hold on…undeniably the landscape of Ethernet will need to change to support this convergence of data and storage traffic. To further this unification, Converged Enhanced Ethernet  (or DCE, Data Center Ethernet) is under development to allow for FC to pipe over Ethernet networks.

What follows are the modifications that need to take place to Ethernet to support Fiber Channel.

• Encapsulation of native fiber channel frames within an Ethernet frame.
• Extensions to the Ethernet protocol itself to enable a lossless Ethernet fabric
• Replacing the fiber channel link with MAC addresses in a lossless Ethernet

Fiber Channel, it seems, is architecturally  dammed. With Ethernet extending within the 10G range and beyond (40G and 100G under development) how can FC ever compete? By switching transports to Ethernet is how. Protecting FC investments is the key to FCoE’s adoption and all vendors with business interests in FC know that.  Cisco, of particular interest, is leading this march. With its buy-in to Nuova Systems in 2006 and most recent buy-out in early 2008, it is well positioned to capitalize on future FC ecosystem upheavals. The Nexus 5000 series of DC class switches, released in April ‘08, is the first real step toward Unified I/O and you better believe it will support FCoE, with a few license buy-in’s of course.

With that said, the adoption of FCoE will be slow going despite its backing. Companies in general will not be quick to uproot there existing native FC environments for the “new kid” technology on the block until it is tested and proven from soup to nuts.

What’s exciting about the introduction of FCoE to the market is that it will force enhancements to Ethernet that will ultimately benefit iSCSI and network storage protocols in general, further driving the server consolidation and virtualization cause. Its proliferation will be built on the back of DCE and its adoption will be in the hands of you and me. So educate yourself, its coming…

For more info on FCoE and the developments that are happening in this space, please visit http://www.fcoe.com/

Also be sure to check out the compelling video describing the hurdles of explosive data growth at CNBC and how they will tackle their challenges with FCoE, http://video.computerworld.com/services/link/bcpid1351827287/bctid1410385428.

****Updated****

Thanks to Omar for commenting and correcting my inaccuracies, as FCoE does not require an upheaval but is complementary and non-disruptive to existing FC environments. He also noted, the Nexus 5000 is currently being certified in EMC E-Labs and should be customer implemented by year’s end. I may add that the current MDS product line does support FCoE in their third generation modules, further protecting your current investment.

Comments are always welcome.