Intel and VMware: Enabling Open FCoE in VMware vSphere 5

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Intel and VMware: Enabling Native FCoE in VMware vSphere™ 5
Fibre Channel over Ethernet:
Extending Consolidation
FCoE is a logical extension of Ethernet
that uses FC’s Network, Service, and
Protocol layers to carry data packets over
Ethernet’s physical and data link layers.
Using FC’s upper layers smoothes the
transition to FCoE because existing SAN-
based applications do not need to change
to benet from the performance and cost
benets of FCoE.
Many enterprises have extensive FC
installations, and FCoE provides easy
FC SAN access for any server with a
capable 10GbE port. By using standard
Ethernet fabrics, FCoE eliminates the
need for dedicated FC host bus adapters
(HBAs), reducing cabling and switch-port
requirements, while coexisting with existing
FC hardware and software infrastructures.
e result is a simplied data center
infrastructure, lower equipment and power
costs, and universal SAN connectivity
across the data center over the trusted
Ethernet fabric.
Introducing Open FCoE
e Open FCoE approach consists of
standard 10 Gigabit Ethernet adapters
and native OS- or hypervisor-based FCoE
initiators, which together provide a robust,
scalable, and high-performance server
connectivity option without expensive,
proprietary hardware. As shown in Figure
2, Open FCoE implements the complete
FC protocol in the hypervisor system
kernel. It provides libraries for dierent
system-level implementations, allowing
vendors to implement data plane functions
of the FCoE stack in hardware to deliver
optimum performance.
Open FCoE: Momentum in
the Linux
®
Community
Initiated by Intel, the Open FCoE project
wasacceptedbytheLinuxcommunity
in November 2007 with the goal of
accelerating development of a native FCoE
initiatorintheLinuxkernel.eindustry
responded enthusiastically, and today there
are over 190 active participants in the
community who are contributing code,
providing review comments, and testing
the Open FCoE stack. To date, the Open
FCoE Source Web site (www.open-fcoe.
org) has received over 20,000 hits. Open
industry standards and Open Source play a
signicant role in the modern data center,
as they lower research and development
costs and enable access to a multi-
vendor supply chain that is designed for
heterogeneous interoperability, ultimately
resulting in greater choice and lower
equipment costs.
e Open FCoE approach oers a number
of advantages in terms of accessibility and
ease of use.
• Accessibility. e Open FCoE approach
makes FC SAN access available to any
server with a standard, compatible
10GbE adapter installed. Rather than
having to purchase proprietary hardware,
IT can continue using its current
Ethernet adapters to gain this additional
functionality. With FCoE support
integrated into the hypervisor, IT can
select compatible Ethernet adapters from
multiple vendors, helping to avoid vendor
lock-in. With Open FCoE, FC SAN access
willbecomeuniversalonce10GbELOM
technology becomes pervasive.
• Ease of use. Because the Open FCoE
approach uses standard 10GbE adapters,
IT can leverage existing knowledge to
congure and manage these adapters
for FCoE deployments. In fact, IT can
standardize on a single product or product
familyforallLANandSANconnectivity.
FCoE initiator integration into the
hypervisor also means common OS-based
tool support across a product family or
even adapters from multiple vendors.
Using converged network adapters (CNAs)
requires learning new tools and installing
additional, proprietary software. Use of
CNAs may also require using dierent
productsforLANandSANconnectivity
because CNAs use the Ethernet fabric but
are optimized for storage functions.
FCoE Data Path Offloads
Ethernet MAC
Ethernet PHY
Figure 2. Overview of Open Fibre
Channel over Ethernet initiator solution.
Open FCoE Solution
Hypervisor
Device Driver
Application I/O
SCSI Storage Interface
Fibre Channel Protocol
FCoE Transport Protocol