Are you a Fibre Channel newbie, or just trying to get a solid grasp of the basics? This Fast Guide to Fibre Channel basics has everything you need to get up-to-speed on the speediest (not to mention one of the most expensive) of the storage interconnects. Also included in
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this guide: The pros and cons of FC, new developments in low-cost FC and comparisions with other storage protocols.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Beginner's Fibre Channel Evaluating network protocols Pros/cons of Fibre Channel The new wave: Low-cost Fibre Channel Latest Fibre Channel news/developments Library of SAN/NAS tips
Test, test, test. That's the advice from expert Chris Poelker whenever evaluating any product you plan on bringing into your data center. In this tip, Chris lists 10 things you must consider before you make your choice. To help make your research a breeze, SearchStorage.com has gathered the best news, expert Q&As, tips and quick guides on the various network protocols. This Featured Topic is geared to help you evaluate each protocol.
Expedient swaps out an EMC Symmetrix for a Nexsan ATA array and claims it has seen no performance degradation. It has seen a massive drop in its cost. Join Christopher Poelker, co-author, "Storage Area Networks for Dummies" for a webcast on how to create a full scale network by tying SANs together. This lesson looks at how to extend the SAN, connectivity between SANs and SAN islands, IP storage, virtualization (in-band, out-of-band) and SW/HW pooling.
If you can hold off your HBA purchases, you'll be well served. Analysts say the price of FC HBAs should be slashed in half in the next 12-18 months. Another factor -- the emergence of iSCSI will put more pressure on the HBA. What is the future of HBAs especially when the big boys of storage deliver native iSCSI storage? Find out here. A lot can happen in a couple of years. Two years ago, storage salespeople's unofficial modus operandi was to ignore storage area network (SAN) buyers that didn't have at least $250,000 to spend. Now, a new Fibre Channel (FC) switch from QLogic, the SANbox 5200, has a street price of under $500/port. With midsized businesses on its mind, Big Blue debuts low-priced servers that support both iSCSI and Fibre Channel. In an effort to win back market share among enterprise users, HP has introduced a SAN starter kit for the Enterprise Virtual Array.br>
Brocade has landed a couple of patents, one for soft zoning -- a term that has caused some confusion in the industry. The FCIA has approved 8 Gbps Fibre Channel, but are they going too fast? A wave of new storage arrays with fabric as opposed to loop-based switches inside should improve performance. Apple has announced the pricing of its upcoming SAN file system, and it's alarmingly low. The near future will see a lot of confusion in FC bandwidth options, with 4, 8 and ultimately 10GB coming on the market. At the same time, HBA prices are under pressure. And what's being done to improve HBA manageability and interoperability? Marc Staimer, Founder of Dragon Slayer Consulting, examines these issues.
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Beginner's Fibre Channel