January 30, 2012

FCoE vs. iSCSI – Making the Choice

iSCSI is an excellent choice in situations where Fibre Channel investment is nonexistent or badly in need of wholesale upgrade, while FCoE is likely to take over in high-end enterprise shops

iSCSI is an excellent choice in situations where Fibre Channel investment is nonexistent or badly in need of wholesale upgrade. FCoE, on the other hand, is likely to take over in high-end enterprise shops. It is relentlessly promoted by major vendors, and it seems that they will force the upgrade eventually.

VMware ESX FCoE CNA Compatibility in Plain English

Converged Networking Adapters like this QLogic 8242 are all the rage, but which are supported in VMware ESX and which have the broadest coverage of DCB features?

VMware has one awesome hardware compatibility list, but its thoroughness can be daunting. It’s fairly easy to search for a specific piece of hardware, but it’s difficult to tell what’s supported in a general sense. I’ve boiled down certain key hardware categories into a general plain-english list of what’s in and out of the ESX HCL. Let’s kick things off with FCoE CNAs.

Eleven Tech Trends To Watch In 2011

2011 will look pretty much like 2010 apart from the differences...

Prognostication is a perilous business, but pundits are drawn to the topic in the month of December. The fact that most predictions fall on their faces demonstrates the intoxicating mix of hope, dreams, and irrationality that mark both geniuses and fools. I am neither, so I like to make predictions after the fact! But this year I’ve been asked to look to the future, so I’ll stick with the safe road and pick current trends rather than guessing what I hope will come.

Back From the Pile: Interesting Links, November 19, 2010

This regular series features highlights from the week. Last week focused on Tech Field Day output, with lots of great writeups resulting from our November event. But there’re a few other interesting items included, too!

Where Is Microsoft’s FCoE Support?

Do you know me?

The storage and networking industry is pushing for high-end Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), and its dominance of FCoE seems almost certain to many industry watchers. But where is Microsoft when it comes to FCoE? Put simply, Microsoft does not seem to be participating in FCoE development, either on the initiator or target side.

The Truth About HP’s Tech Day

HP invited bloggers to Colorado to show off their storage offerings at Tech Day 2009

HP and Ivy did a darn fine job of putting together a set of sessions to tell us what they have. They presented folks who really knew their stuff, warts and all. They invited a variety of independent voices and let us ask and say anything we wanted with no expectations, let alone an NDA. This was a stellar event, and every other IT company should be asking why they didn’t do it first.

Who Will Capture the 10 Gigabit Ethernet Crown?

Lego Chess Board

Today, Brocade announced that it has completed its acquisition of Foundry Networks.  This is just the latest move in the strategic game to control the next generation of Ethernet, and possibly all local connectivity, including storage. Although 1 Gb Ethernet, 4 and 8 Gb Fibre Channel, and InfiniBand are all still going strong, the attention of the industry, [...]