Greg "EtherealMind" Ferro recently "mused" that it might be a good idea to replace PCI Express (PCIe) inside servers or rack-scale infrastructure with Ethernet. But this seems to be the exact opposite of the direction the industry is headed. Rather than replacing PCIe with Ethernet, companies like Intel seem set on replacing short-range Ethernet (in rack-scale systems) with … [Read more...] about Musing: Could We Replace Ethernet With PCIe?
Fibre Channel
Why OpenStack Doesn’t Need Fibre Channel Support
Last week, J Metz penned an article entitled “Thoughts on #OpenStack and Software-Defined Storage” in which he argues (rightly) that OpenStack Cinder should take storage networks into account and also (wrongly) that it should also encompass existing protocols such as “the 11 Billion ports of Fibre Channel that currently exist as part of a holistic system of storage … [Read more...] about Why OpenStack Doesn’t Need Fibre Channel Support
Fusion-io Steps Into the Flash Array Market with ioN
Flash is hot right now, and solid-state storage is transforming every part of IT. From the iPad to the enterprise, every company is looking to figure out how best to deploy solid-state, and how it will transform their applications. Now the darling of the PCI-e card market, Fusion-io is taking its first steps into the enterprise storage array field with "ioN". The Solid State … [Read more...] about Fusion-io Steps Into the Flash Array Market with ioN
The I/O Blender Part 1: Ye Olde Storage I/O Path
Back in the day, when data was smaller and servers were machines, I/O followed a predictable pattern. Storage arrays could anticipate requests and RAID was beautiful. Then came virtualization, and with it an end to ye olde storage I/O path. Server = HBA = LUN It was a simpler time back in the 1990's. Each server had a SCSI host bus adapter (HBA) of its own. Maybe two, if … [Read more...] about The I/O Blender Part 1: Ye Olde Storage I/O Path
What Is a Blade Server?
I've been watching enterprise IT for over 20 years now, and I've seen some radical changes. In the server space, one of the biggest shifts was the form factor of the servers: From tower to rack-mount to blades. But what makes a blade server anyway? Let's consider this for a moment, as we watch another shift in progress. Blade servers are easily recognized in the data … [Read more...] about What Is a Blade Server?