New Trends Make 10 Gigabit Ethernet the Data-Center Performance Choice

WHITE PAPER | New Trends Make 10 Gigabit Ethernet the Data-Center Performance Choice
7
Figure 4. iSCSI and 10GbE. iSCSI provides a flexible means
of expanding SAN connectivity.
10GbE
iSCSI
Clients
71XX
Switch
Compute
Clusters
RAID
Secondary
Storage
LAN
Arista
71XX
Switch
Servers
71XX
Switch
1 GbE
This enables use of the greater performance and
economy of 10GbE in expanding legacy Fibre
Channel SANs.
In addition to the bandwidth advantage over
Fibre Channel, 10GbE adapters with iSCSI Remote
Boot offer a variety of other advantages in SAN
applications. These include:
• Reduced Equipment and Management Costs –
GbE and 10GbE networking components are less
expensive than highly specialized Fibre Channel
components and, because they are Ethernet, they
do not require the specialized Fibre Channel skill
set for installation and management.
• Enhanced Server Management – Remote boot
eliminates booting each server from its own
direct-attached disk. Instead, servers can boot
from an OS image on the SAN. This is particularly
advantageous for using diskless servers in rack-
mount or blade server applications as well
as for provisioning servers and VMs in server
consolidation and virtualization. Additionally,
booting servers from a single OS image on the
SAN ensures that each server has the same OS
with the same patches and upgrades.
• Improved Disaster Recovery – All information
on a local SAN—including boot information, OS
images, applications, and data—can be duplicated
on a remote SAN for quick and complete disaster
recovery. Remote boot and an iSCSI SAN provides
even greater assurance of disaster protection and
recovery. This is because iSCSI SANs can be located
anywhere Internet connectivity is available,
allowing greater geographic separation and
protection from local or regional disasters such as
earthquakes and hurricanes.
CONCLUSION
The significant cost-per-port reduction for 10GbE
—projected to decline as much as 41 percent
from 2005 to 2007—along with the significant
performance gains and energy efficiencies of
multi-core processors in blades and other platforms
portends a significant rise in 10GbE connectivity
throughout data centers and networks. This is
especially true for server virtualization and high-
density computing environments where I/O
bandwidth and throughput are critical. Additionally,
with the emergence of iSCSI initiators in OSs and
iSCSI Remote Boot support in Intel
®
Server Adapters
for PCIe, 10GbE is well poised for an expanding role
in SAN applications. The future role of 10GbE and
Ethernet in I/O convergence promises to provide a
lower-cost network infrastructure that is both more
agile and responsive in meeting business needs.
In short, 10GbE deployment in data centers is on a
growth path driven by needs for higher performance
and supported by falling per-port prices for 10GbE
capability. 10GbE is the here-and-now upgrade and
migration path to the high-performance networks
of the future. To ensure a smooth and cost-effective
migration path, Intel has created a new generation
of 10GbE server adapters with a balanced set of
features specially optimized to take advantage of
new and emerging technologies.