industrybrief - unified fabrics - just add storage

Industry Brief

Unified Fabrics:

Just Add Storage

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Nexus 5000 Switches

Nexus 7000 Switches

MDS 9000 Switches

Unified Computing System

Where IT perceptions are reality

Copyright 2012© IT Brand Pulse. All rights reserved. Document # INDUSTRY2012008 v1, September, 2012

Unified Fabrics: Just Add Storage

Synopsis

This report reviews the industry initiative to merge LANs and SANs onto one Ethernet-based Unified Fabric.

Included will be data from the IT pro survey conducted for this report and our analysis of the data:

LANs and networked storage diverged...again.

IT professionals view the journey to unified fabrics as a continuum, not a revolution.

SMBs are deploying unified fabrics with Ethernet LANs and iSCSI SANs.

10GbE LAN adoption is exploding because it is a huge performance leap forward

Right now, FCoE is not a huge performance leap forward for SANs.

Large enterprise adoption of FCoE will take off at 40GbE.

40% of organizations surveyed want parallel Ethernet and Fibre Channel networks.

The other 60% of IT organizations are at some stage of implementing FCoE.

The Who’s Who of vendors are delivering multi-protocol products.

The current generation of multi-protocol servers and fabrics makes it easy to mix Ethernet and Fibre

Channel storage.

IT professionals recognize Cisco as the company which contributed most to 10GbE and convergence.

Cisco has the best-in-class architecture for convergence, and the broadest product line.

of 12 Document # INDUSTRY2012008 v1, September, 2012

42.5% of IT professionals surveyed said the adoption of 10GbE is best

described as the next level of speed for their LAN infrastructure which

they will incorporate over a period of years. 42.5%

LAN/SAN Convergence

Divergence Created the Need

Standards-based Ethernet LANs emerged

in the mid-1980s. Over the following 10

years, supercomputer storage networks

and proprietary storage networks, such as

HIPPI and IBM SSA, were developed to

meet demanding business requirements.

In the late 1990s, Fibre Channel emerged

as a simpler alternative to bulky HIPPI, and

an open alternative to SSA. The success of

Fibre Channel also served to broaden and

deepen LAN/SAN divergence in the data

center. Today, Fibre Channel ports comprise 8.5% of installed network ports as demand remains strong for

Fibre Channel SANs to meet the business requirements of large enterprises.

Back to the Future

In 2008, the IT industry—led by Cisco, the master of convergence—introduced Data Center Ethernet (DCE) to

unify support for NAS, iSCSI and Fibre Channel on a single Ethernet wire. Today, major server, storage and

networking vendors support DCE with the latest generation of 10GbE ASICs. Ironically, the collaboration and

advanced technologies harnessed to make DCE a

one-wire-fits-all fabric, will eventually bring us

back to what the industry achieved almost 30 years

ago. In the mid-1980s, as leading networking

companies worked together on standardized LAN

technology, NAS was developed to overcome the

limitations of direct attached storage (DAS) and

forged a single Ethernet fabric for LAN and storage

traffic.


Data Center Ethernet

Eventually the IT industry will complete the migration to a unified fabric

with multiple LAN, NAS and SAN traffic on one Data Center Ethernet

wire.

IT Brand Pulse

Estimate the percentage of

network ports in your data

center that are:

The percentage of installed data center network ports which are 1GbE. 64.9%

SMBs Start with 1GbE

LAN/SAN Convergence is a

Continuum

A continuum is a series of events that

blend into each other so seamlessly

that it's difficult to distinguish progress,

but the beginning and end are quite

different. IT professionals perceive

LAN/SAN convergence as more of a

continuum than a revolution. Over

70% surveyed for this report view the

adoption of 10GbE as a speed bump, or

one of many step towards convergence

to be incorporated over a period of

years.

Medium Enterprises Converging

on 1GbE

That’s not to say convergence is not

happening. It is; with the greatest

progress in medium-sized enterprises

where 1GbE performance has been

able to satisfy LAN, NAS and iSCSI SAN

requirements across thousands of

applications. Over 35% of IT

professionals surveyed in 2012 said

they have already implemented, or are

planning to implement, LAN/SAN

convergence with iSCSI.


The good news is almost 70% of IT professionals said they are at some stage of LAN/SAN

convergence. The bad news is 30% still have no plans to converge.

IT Brand Pulse

The status of LAN and SAN convergence in our data center is best described as:

The adoption of 10GbE in my data center can be described as:

Over 70% of IT professionals view the adoption of 10GbE as a speed bump or step

towards convergence to be incorporated over a period of years.

IT Brand Pulse

69.9% of IT professionals are at some stage of planning or implementing

LAN and SAN convergence with iSCSI and/or FCoE. 69.9%

Large Enterprises Need 10GbE

1GbE not Enough Bandwidth

The starting point and foundation for large enterprises

to unify Ethernet LANs and Fibre Channel SANs is

10GbE. First, 10GbE finally has the performance to

compete with Fibre Channel. Second, 10GbE ASICs

inside the latest server adapters, switches and storage

systems support DCE, which carries the Fibre Channel

over Ethernet (FCoE) protocol. Because FCoE looks to

storage applications software just like Fibre Channel,

the availability of FCoE means IT organizations don’t

have to port their storage management software and

suddenly, implementing a unified fabric is a lot easier.

Virtualization Driving 10Gb LAN Adoption

In 2008, many believed the cost savings related to

consolidating LANs and SANs would drive the adoption

of 10GbE, while the additional bandwidth that came

with a 10x jump from 1GbE was an added benefit.

Server virtualization reversed the priority to increasing

LAN bandwidth. IT professionals working hard to

increase the density of VMs on their servers soon

realized heavily-loaded servers created an aggregation

of I/O, making 1GbE bandwidth an issue. The result is

10GbE LOM and adapter port shipments have

exploded. Shipments of 10GbE LOM and adapter ports

are expected to double year-over-year in both 2012

and 2013, reaching 20 million ports in 2013.


IT professionals see server virtualization as the driving force for

10GbE adoption over many other applications including LAN/SAN

adoption.

The primary issue I have with 1GbE is:

The #1 issue IT professionals had with 1GbE technology was 1Gb is

not enough bandwidth.

The application in my data center which is

driving the adoption of 10GbE is:

IT Brand Pulse

41.1% of IT professionals surveyed said “server virtualization” was the

application most driving the adoption of 10GbE in their data center. 41.1%

IT Brand Pulse

Fibre Channel over Ethernet

FCoE will Take-Off with 40GbE

While 10GbE LOM and adapter port shipments exploded for LAN applications, FCoE is expected to take-off

with 40GbE. Upgrading server LAN connectivity from 1GbE to 10GbE provides a 10x increase in bandwidth.

However, with 16Gb Fibre Channel storage systems arriving in 2012, migrating to 10Gb FCoE is a step

backwards in performance. When NAS, iSCSI and FCoE systems appear soon with 40GbE technology, Ethernet

-based storage systems will offer 2.5x the performance of Fibre Channel, and FCoE adoption will take-off.


Large enterprise migration to FCoE will

accelerate when 40GbE storage systems offer

a 2.5x performance advantage over 16Gb Fibre

Channel systems.

Storage Networking Speed Road Map

IT Brand Pulse

40Gb FCoE will offer 2.5x the bandwidth of 16Gb Fibre Channel. 2.5x

40% Want Parallel Networks

Based on the IT Brand Pulse survey, 40% of IT organizations are not converging with FCoE. For the 40% of IT

professionals who have been too busy to look at FCoE, or who say they have no plans to converge their LANs

and SANs, parallel Ethernet and Fibre Channel infrastructure will be deployed—at least until 40GbE arrives.

At that time, even the most die-hard Fibre Channel storage administrator will appreciate that 40Gb FCoE

provides much higher performance than native 16Gb Fibre Channel.


Parallel Ethernet & Fibre Channel Networks

As recently as 2007 BC (Before Convergence), DCE and FCoE products allowing unified fabrics did not exist. Implementing LANs, SANs and NAS

networks flat-out required different types of host adapters, switches and network management expertise. Unified fabric equipment entered

the market in 2008. However, in 2012, the prevalent data center network architecture remains a parallel network architecture, including a mix

of specialized NIC, iSCSI, and Fibre Channel host adapters, as well as Ethernet and Fibre Channel switched fabrics.

11.2% of IT professionals surveyed said they planned to converge their

LANs and SANs but they were too busy to investigate. 11.2%

60% are Converging with FCoE

The IT Brand Pulse survey also showed a 60% majority of IT organizations are planning or at some stage of

implementing LAN/SAN convergence with FCoE. For the 60% of IT professionals who are on the move with

FCoE, the deployment of converged network adapters and DCE switches is key. These products provide

connectivity to installed Fibre Channel SANs, as well as a unified Ethernet fabric with NAS, iSCSI SAN and

FCoE SAN storage.


Unified Fabric and Fibre Channel SAN

IT organizations which deploy converged network adapters in their servers and DCE switches in their switched fabrics, are positioned to

simultaneously support installed Fibre Channel SANs and a unified fabric with any type of Ethernet-based storage.

46.4% of IT professionals surveyed said the biggest obstacle to adoption

of FCoE was the higher cost of 10GbE which FCoE is based on. 46.4%

Industry Collaboration

Who’s Who of Networking

The list of vendors who poured the foundation for

10GbE and DCE includes a long list of Who’s Who in

the networking industry. Years ago these vendors

collaborated on standards to enable unified fabrics.

Today they are delivering multi-protocol servers,

storage and network products.

Cisco Stands Out

Having led previous industry convergence initiatives

such as Voice over IP (VoIP), no company

understands better than Cisco what’s needed to help

partners and customers through the migration

process. The company has been at the forefront of

education since DCE and FCoE standards were in

development, and the company has developed a

broad product portfolio needed to efficiently address

the specific needs of a variety of application

environments. The result is that among the many

vendors involved in developing the markets for

10GbE and converged networking, IT professionals

recognize that contributions from Cisco stand out

from the pack.

Over 50% of IT professionals polled said that Cisco is

the vendor which contributed most to the

development of the 10GbE market and convergence

on Ethernet—5x the votes received by the next

vendor in each category.


Which vendor has contributed most to the

development of the 10Gb Ethernet market?

Which vendor has contributed most to the

development of convergence on Ethernet?

52.8% of IT professionals surveyed said Cisco is the company which

contributed most to the development of the 10Gb Ethernet market. 52.8%

Best-in-Class


Cisco Unified Fabric

For the 40% of IT organizations still deploying parallel

Ethernet LANs and Fibre Channel SANs, and for the 60%

who are at some stage of converging on FCoE, Cisco

Unified Fabric is a best-in-class networking foundation

designed for both.

A pillar of the Cisco Unified Data Center, Cisco Unified

Fabric is a well-defined architecture which integrates

storage and data networking to deliver transparent

convergence, multi-dimensional scalability and

sophisticated intelligence with a single Cisco NX-OS

operating platform.

Transparent convergence means that Cisco Unified Fabric

integrates with the existing infrastructure, including Nexus

and MDS switch products; preserving the customer's

investment in current SAN technology.

Multi-dimensional scalability encompasses device

performance, fabric and server scalability, and geographic

span.

Finally, converging efficiently is made possible by Unified

Fabric intelligence. The intelligence in the Cisco Nexus and

Cisco MDS Families comes from their common operating

system, Cisco NX-OS. Cisco NX-OS allows intelligent

services to be delivered directly to the network in a

consistent and even manner, regardless of whether the

application is a standard physical server or a virtual server

workload.

Cisco's Unified Data Center provides a complete architecture

platform for Unified Management, Unified Fabric and Uni-

fied Computing.

Cisco Unified Data Center: The

Platform for Delivering IT as a Service

Cisco Unified Fabric architecture integrates storage and data

networking for transparent convergence, multi-dimensional

scalability and sophisticated intelligence.

Cisco Unified Fabric: Delivers

Transparent Convergence


contributed most to the development of convergence on Ethernet. 50.6%

Cisco Unified Fabric Products


Cisco Nexus 5000 Switches

Help enable any transport over Ethernet,

including Layer 2 and Layer 3 traffic and

storage traffic, on one common data-

center-class platform.


Deliver a comprehensive NX-OS feature

set, with high-density 10, 40, and 100

Gigabit Ethernet for the data center and

campus core network.

Cisco Nexus 1000V Soft Switch

Includes VEM, a software switch in the

hypervisor, along with VSM which

manages both networking policies and

QoS for virtual machines.

Cisco Nexus 2000 Fabric Extenders

Provide connectivity for servers, as well

as converged fabric deployments. Cisco

Nexus 5000 and Nexus 7000 Series

Switches act as parent switches.

Cisco Fabric Manager

Included with Cisco MDS 9000 and Cisco

Nexus 5000 Switches for basic switch

configuration and troubleshooting

capabilities.

Cisco Data Center Network Manager

Includes a feature-rich, customizable

dashboard that provides visibility and

control through a single pane of glass to

Cisco Nexus and MDS products.


Extend the proven innovations of Cisco

Unified Fabric to the High-Frequency

Trading (HFT) market and Big

Data environments.

Cisco MDS 9000 Series Switches

Helps you build highly available, scalable

storage networks with advanced security

and unified management.

Cisco NX-OS

The full-featured, modular, and

scalable operating system is available on

the entire Cisco Data Center switching

portfolio.


contributed most to the development of network virtualization. 52.8%

Just Add Storage

The Bottom Line

The journey to unified fabrics is a continuum which will take many years. Supporting multi-protocol storage

has never been easier among the latest generation of servers and networks which efficiently support parallel

Ethernet and Fibre Channel storage. But support for multi-protocol storage gets even more efficient when IT

organizations merge LANs with either iSCSI or FCoE SANs. Expect the 40% of enterprises not considering

FCoE today, to think again when FCoE storage systems are introduced based on 40GbE.

Related Links

To learn more about the companies, technologies, and products mentioned in this report, visit the following web pages: Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Switches Cisco Nexus 3000 Series Switches Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switches Cisco MDS 9000 Series Multilayer Switches Cisco Data Center Network Manager Cisco Fabric Manager IT Brand Pulse

About the Author

Frank Berry is founder and senior analyst for IT Brand Pulse, a trusted source of data and analysis about IT infrastructure, including servers, storage and networking. As former vice president of product marketing and corporate marketing for QLogic, and vice president of worldwide marketing for the automated tape library (ATL) division of Quantum, Mr. Berry has over 30 years experience in the development and marketing of IT infrastructure. If you

have any questions or comments about this report, contact [email protected].


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industrybrief - unified fabrics - just add storage

Devices & Hardware

fibre channel storage

fibre channel sans

fibre channel networks

fibre channel ports

success of fibre channel

parallel ethernet

single ethernet fabric

storage traffic