Is It Time for 10-Gig? [in the SAN to replace FC?]
October 10, 2006
Mary Jander, Byte and Switch
[FAC: The author asks an interesting question concerning the push-pull dynamics behind the adoption of 10Gbps Ethernet in the SAN (storage area networking) segment. One wonders while reading the article if the Fibre Channel (FC) camp isn't exerting influence, either directly or indirectly, on vendors integrators and service providers - and, indeed, IT managers, too - to "preserve inertia," as someone characterized government's stance on telecoms policy, earlier. FC certainly is a robust, mature technology with a lot of moving parts. A lot like Token Ring is/was, in fact. Numerous vendors and individuals would be affected extremely adversely if Ethernet were suddenly to begin taking an appreciable share of storage area networking, one of the few holdouts in enterprises still not using Ethernet extensively. If the hairs on the back of your neck are standing up while you are reading this little fact of life, then you're probably among the affected parties I'm referring to. Up until now, FC ruled due to its ability to handle super-Gbps speeds and perform tricks that are not native to Ethernet. Now, with 10Gbps Ethernet available, and software solutions being made available to make up for the differences I cited in my previous sentence, the time might be right to begin thinking more forgivingly about some of those earlier tradeoff points. What do you think?]
Do you dream of using 10-Gbit/s Ethernet as a universal connectivity fabric? If so, you're in a tiny minority that may need to get more vocal.
Equipment suppliers and service providers aren't in any rush to supply 10 Gbit/s. Indeed, most are simply ignoring such talk. They say 10-Gbit/s Ethernet may surface here and there in isolated data centers, but those projects are restricted to high-performance applications that are mostly local.
"The [10-Gbit/s Ethernet] market for SANs hasn't yet hit its stride, mostly due to the cost of deploying ... infrastructure," writes an EMC spokesperson in an email. EMC will wait to supply 10-Gbit/s technology until it's both affordable and in demand, she states.
And this from an Ethernet service provider: "I've only seen [demand for 10-Gbit/s Ethernet services] a couple of times, and not for distances of more than 1,000 kilometers," says Michael Papell, VP of corporate development at Veroxity Technology Partners, a facilities-based carrier that specializes in custom enterprise networks, including SAN extension solutions.
So where does this leave the small, crowing crowd of 10-Gbit/s Ethernet storage evangelists? It's tough to tell.
Continued at:
byteandswitch.com
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