TCP/IP Optimizations for Block Storage
Joseph White, Distinguished Engineer, Juniper Networks

With all of the interest in using IP storage for servers, business continuance, and disaster recovery, the various IP storage protocols such as iSCSI, iFCP, and FCIP have gained increasing attention from storage networking professionals and administrators. TCP/IP provides the transport for these upper level protocols. Knowledge of TCP/IP and how it applies to block storage and bulk data transfers is critical for optimal deployment of IP storage solutions. This session provides an overview of TCP/IP as it applies to block storage protocols and bulk data transfers. The session will begin with an overview of TCP/IP and continue with storage networking considerations when using high bandwidth, long latency, congested, or impaired networks. This session will primarily focus on modifications and enhancements used to mitigate these negative effects on TCP/IP performance.

Learning Objectives

• Gain an understanding of the TCP/IP protocol from a tutorial overview with emphasis on application of TCP/IP to block storage transport.
• The audience will gain an understanding of how a Fibre Channel protocol can share an Ethernet network with other Ethernet based protocols.