Addressing FCoE in the Data Center

Power, cooling and space challenges are the norm for most data centers today. These challenges are a direct result of infrastructure sprawl and disparate technologies caused by cabling, adaptors and switch ports for networking and storage. While server virtualization has begun to address part of the issue, many problems remain and new challenges emerge. This webcast look as ways to solve some of these data center challenges using Fibre Channel over Ethernet.

The main application of Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) is in data center storage area networks (SANs). FCoE has particular application in data centers due to the cabling reduction it makes possible, as well as in server virtualization applications, which often require many physical I/O connections per server.

With FCoE, network (IP) and storage (SAN) data traffic can be consolidated using a single network switch. This consolidation can:

Fibre Channel over Ethernet provides a homogeneous I/O such that all servers have access to both the Ethernet as well as Fibre Channel environments. This is key as workloads become more mobile and dynamic across the Data Center. Providing this incremental set of capabilities while optimizing the overall cable count, adaptors, switch ports, heat dissipation and power draw proves to be more and more compelling as servers, storage, and cables continue their otherwise unabated sprawl.

Many solutions are available today and IT organizations are realizing the benefits and efficiencies of products from Cisco, NetApp, and Panduit. This webcast will cover today's challenges in the Data Center, perspectives on how to address them, and specific methods and products to mitigate infrastructure sprawl. Click here to register for this December 10, 2009 live webcast.