Use Cases for iSCSI and FCoE: Where Each Makes Sense

For many years, Fibre Channel was the protocol of choice for Storage Area Networks (SANs), but iSCSI and more recently Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) have challenged Fibre Channel’s dominance. Datacenter Ethernet (DCE) is a series of enhancements to the common Ethernet implementation that allow the performance and resiliency required for storage networks. However, all of the improvements to Ethernet to allow FCoE to function provide those same benefits to iSCSI. Since, the hardware for DCE using FCoE and iSCSI is often identical, it comes down to a matter of choosing which protocol to run on the network. This tutorial will delve into these topics and help answer when each protocol may be appropriate to a particular set of requirements. Users will learn:

Market perceptions of FCoE and iSCSI
The impact of Data Center Bridging (DCB)
Topology requirements and limitations
Performance requirements and bottlenecks
Resource utilization
Skills and support - it’s not always a pure technical decision
Learning Objectives

Market perceptions and use cases of FCoE and iSCSI
Topology requirements and limitations
Performance requirements and bottlenecks