Comparing Server I/O Consolidation Solution: iSCSI, Infiniband and FCoE

Errol Roberts, Distinguished Systems Engineer, Cisco Systems
Gilles Chekroun, Sr. Consulting Systems Engineer, Cisco Systems

This tutorial gives an introduction to server I/O consolidation, having one network interface technology, to support IP and storage (Fibrechannel, SCSI) applications. The benefits for the end users are discussed: less cabling, power and cooling. For these three solutions, iSCSI, Infiniband and FCoE, we compare features like Infrastructure / Cabling, Protocol Stack, Performance, Operating System drivers and support, Management Tools, Security and best design practices. We also highlight the implications for the Datacenter front end network, bridging / routing in the access / aggregation / core layer, exponential increase in number of MAC and IP addresses.  

Learning Objectives

• Introduce the concepts  three I/O consolidation technologies deployed today.
  
• Show similarities and differentiators of the three solutions
  
• Explore network architecture  impact