The role of FCoE in I/O consolidation

Consolidation of the multiple traffic types present in current data centers over a single unified network is a big trend in the information technology industry. Extensions to 10G Ethernet are making it the most promising technology for achieving I/O consolidation. The emerging Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) protocol plays a critical role in this convergence process. This paper elaborates how FCoE leverages the ubiquity and economics of Ethernet networks while preserving the infrastructure, strengths, and tools of the existing Fibre Channel Storage Area Network (SAN) framework.