Product specifications

Deploying a Converged Storage Network Using a Cisco FCoE Switch

Appendix B: Hardware and Software

Sun Storage 10GbE FCoE PCIe Converged Network Adapter

The Sun Storage 10GbE FCoE PCIe Converged Network Adapter is a single-chip, fully offloaded

FCoE initiator, operating in both virtual and nonvirtual environments, running over an Enhanced

Ethernet fabric. This converged network adapter initiator boosts system performance with 10 Gbps

speed and full hardware offload for FCoE protocol processing. Cutting-edge 10 Gbps bandwidth

eliminates performance bottlenecks in the I/O path with a 10X data rate improvement over existing

1 Gbps Ethernet solutions. In addition, full hardware offload for FCoE protocol processing reduces

system CPU usage for I/O operations, which leads to faster application performance and greater

consolidation in virtualized systems.

Sun ZFS Storage Appliance

Oracle's Sun ZFS Storage Appliance product line delivers leadership value for organizations using

unified storage to implement cloud computing, virtualization, fixed-content serving, data protection,

and storage-consolidation environments. The product line enables the rapid deployment of new

revenue-producing applications and lowers expenses by reducing storage complexity and its associated

administrative costs.

The Sun ZFS Storage Appliance product line combines industry-leading performance, density, and

storage analytics with an innovative storage architecture and unparalleled ease of deployment and use.

Cisco Unified Fabric Switch

The Cisco Nexus 5000 Series switch enables a high-performance, standards-based, Ethernet unified

fabric. The platform consolidates separate LAN, SAN, and server cluster environments into a single

physical fabric while preserving existing operational models. The Cisco Nexus 5000 Series switch

provides an enhanced Ethernet topology by leveraging data center bridging features, which include

priority flow control (PFC) for a lossless fabric and enhanced transmission selection (ETS) for

bandwidth management. These Ethernet enhancements allow technologies such as Fibre Channel over

Ethernet and allow consolidation of I/O without compromise. A unified fabric enables increased

bandwidth usage, less cabling, fewer adapters, and less network equipment. The benefits are reduced

power and cooling requirements, significant cost savings in infrastructure software and hardware, and

reduced infrastructure management costs.

The Cisco Nexus 5000 Series switch uses cut-through architecture, supports line-rate 10 Gigabit

Ethernet on all ports, and maintains consistently low latency (independent of packet size and enabled

services). In addition, the Cisco Nexus 5000 Series switch supports a set of network technologies

known collectively as IEEE data center bridging (DCB) that increases the reliability, efficiency, and

scalability of Ethernet networks. These features enable support for multiple traffic classes over a

lossless Ethernet fabric, thus enabling consolidation of LAN, SAN, and cluster environments. The

ability to connect FCoE to native Fibre Channel protects existing storage system investments, while

dramatically simplifying in-rack cabling.