HP InfiniBand FDR 2-port 545M Converged Networks and Fibre Channel over Ethern - Page 11

Conclusion Server virtualization is creating significant change, driving data centers to pool larger numbers of servers. There is a need to replace the rigid compartmentalized networks with a more flexible model which still contains the impact of a single runaway process or switch can have on the network. The winning approaches have not yet emerged, or more precisely, every vendor is selling you a different "winning approach" that addresses some but not all of these issues. As a major vendor behind FCoE, Cisco is driving efforts for a data center switch refresh. The aim is to replace aging technology with their new generation switches, using FCoE requirements as the reason to act. A year ago, Cisco changed plans from traffic as FCoE over a large Layer 2 DCB fabric with congestion management (using Congestion Notification to traffic from FCF to FCF as switch hops are traversed). At best, this makes the industry direction for multi-hop FCoE unclear, and at worst indicates that end-to-end FCoE will only work on single vendor networks. Such uncertainly discourages long term investments based on assumptions about FCoE's requirements. Our advice on native, multi-hop FCoE across the data center includes FCoE as a strong server edge technology for native Fibre Channel networks, with 1-hop FCoE proven and 2-hop FCoE viable in selected cases. End-to-end FCoE is viable only in single vendor proprietary networks for the foreseeable future. Any deployment of end-to-end FCoE should be carefully scrutinized for cost, benefit, risk, and ROI. Consider adopting technologies like the FC-based HP 3PAR Flat SAN technology Systems that operate within the proven single hop environment. This is a good time to explore storage connection alternatives and begin to estimate what percent of your storage needs is best met by block storage on a SAN (Fibre Channel, FCoE, iSCSI), what percent is best met by file storage (NAS, and at what scale), and what percent is best met by DAS. These are some of the other planning considerations: • On what scale do you implement migration strategies (like vMotion or others) requiring that MAC and IP addresses stay intact? • Do you intend to move from the classic oversubscribed hierarchical network to a flatter network topology. Hierarchical networks can cause unacceptable oversubscription on both data and storage networks, imposing more upward hops on both kinds of traffic.? • What choices should you make between the various hypervisor and network vendors as next generation data center networks emerge? You can't ignore escalating business requirements, but you can balance those drivers with a measured approach to the adoption of new network technologies. Evaluating new technologies based on how they preserve the value and remaining lifecycle of existing network infrastructures should be a consideration. It may also be worth waiting to embrace a new end-to-end network strategy until there is some consensus about the DCB standards among network hardware vendors. 11