Demartek Expert Q&A: Five questions on FCoE
07 November 2011
Dennis Martin, Demartek President, was interviewed by SearchDataCenter as part of their Expert Q&A series.
Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) technology allows Fibre Channel storage data to be
encapsulated for transfer across a conventional Ethernet LAN, eliminating the expense
and management burden of a separate storage network in the data center. With FCoE
gaining acceptance, we spent some time discussing the technology with Dennis Martin,
president of Demartek LLC, a storage industry analyst firm located in Arvada, Colo.
Q: What are the principal hardware requirements to facilitate FCoE deployment (network interface cards, switches, etc.)? Are there any hardware recommendations/suggestions that would enhance FCoE deployment? A: Continue to page... Q: What are the principal software requirements to facilitate FCoE deployment (operating systems, switch software versions, drivers and so on)? How much of the software stack needs to be "FCoE ready?" A: Continue to page... Q: Are there any particular storage subsystem considerations needed to support FCoE? Are there any features of the Fibre Channel subsystem that readers should look for? A: Continue to page... Q: What kind of management tools are appropriate for FCoE storage? How well is FCoE supported by third-party data center management tools, or is it better to focus on management tools that accompany the storage subsystem? A: Continue to page... Q: What other best practices can you suggest for FCoE deployment? A: Continue to page... |