Fibre Channel vs. iSCSI
When designing a storage area network (SAN) to meet a customers needs, one of the most important choices is to determine the type of connectivity to use; Fibre Channel (FRC) or iSCSI? Each has advantages and disadvantages and each make sense in different solutions.
Fibre Channel was by far the most popular way to connect SAN, both because it has been proven as a reliable, resilient and scalable method, and because iSCSI was relatively unknown in terms of performance, reliability and scalability.
Fibre Channel protocol tends to be the best for bandwidth intensive applications. However many believe that most applications and storage architecture can not take advantage of all the bandwidth that Fibre Channel delivers today.
The cost of implementing a Fibre Channel SAN can cause companies look at iSCSI as an alternative solution. In some cases, the Fibre Channel SAN makes sense imply because the customer already has FC implemented within their enviroment and the “learning curve” is often very small.
Over the past few years the iSCSI protocol has come into its own, proving to be a good alternative for connecting an organization servers to network storage, especially in smaller distributed environments like branch offices or remote locations. iSCSI translates into simpler storage management and consolidation at a reasonable cost. The plug and play nature of iSCSI compliant products allows organizations to deploy IP-based SANs rapidly.
Concerns about iSCSI performance have been discounted, eliminating yet another roadblock to the adoption of iSCSI as a valid SAN connectivity option. It has been found that for disk intensive real world applications, the difference between iSCSI and FC performance is negligible.
NexSAN is an example of a storage manufacturer that in the past offered their SATABoy and SATABeast with dual Fibre Channel connectivity. iSCSI connectivity was added to the same controller since there was a significant request for support of the iSCSI protocol. Another example of the need to support both protocols comes fro StoreVault a NetApp company. NAS and iSCSI are standard protocols supported on every S500 that ships from StoreVault. The S500 will soon support Fibre Channel connectivity, upon the release of the fibre card by StoreVault.
It is important to determine the customer’s expectations regarding performance demands or needs. If the environment is distributed, performance may be of lesser priority (iSCSI); however a data center offering something that is very “throughput-intensive” the only solution may be a Fibre Channel based SAN. It would not be uncommon for an organization to implement both Fibre Channel and iSCSI and they both have their place in the market.
Christine Harrell
View all articles by Christine Harrell
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ITECH IFC-4032-REF Satellite Fibre Channel Analysis $49,395.00 |
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I-Tech IFC-3016 4-Port Fibre Channel Analyzer $47,375.00 |
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HP StorageWorks MSL8096 4 LTO-5 Ultrium 3280 Fibre Channel Tape Library (BL534A) $38,450.00 |
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APCON ACI-2054-C00 INTELLAPATCH Fibre Channel Switch $24,500.00 |
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HP StorageWorks MSL8096 2 LTO-5 Ultrium 3280Fibre Channel Tape Library (BL533A) $23,750.00 |
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Cisco DS-X9248-256K9 48-Port Performance 8Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module $19,995.00 |
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APCON ACI-2052-F64-3 INTELLAPATCH Fibre Channel Switch $18,500.00 |
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CISCO 48 Port DS-X9248-256K9 Unused 8-Gbps Advanced Fibre Channel Switching Mod $18,450.00 |
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HP STORAGEWORKS SAN SWITCH 4/32 FULL SWITCH 4GB FIBRE CHANNEL + 32 X A7393A $18,032.53 |
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QLogic 9200 64-port, 4Gb fibre channel switch $17,500.00 |
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Cisco DS-X9232-256K9 32-Port Performance 8Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module $15,995.00 |
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New Cisco DS-X9248-256K9 48-Port 8Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module $15,500.00 |
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IBM TotalStorage SAN140M Fibre Channel Director $15,166.08 |
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IBM TotalStorage SAN140M Fibre Channel Director $15,166.08 |
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NEW CISCO DS-X9224-96K9= Sealed Bag 24x DS-SFP-FC8G-SW 24 Port 8Gb Fibre Channel $14,995.00 |
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3Par E200 InServ Fibre Channel Storage Array 25TB Storage Capacity 5x RS-1602 $14,999.95 |
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BL533A HP MSL8096 2 LTO-5 Ultrium 3280 Fibre Channel Tape Library $14,500.00 |
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HP StorageWorks MSL6060 2 LTO-4 Ultrium 1840 Fibre Channel Library $13,199.00 |
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HP MSL4048 2 LTO-5 Ultrium 3000 Fibre Channel Tape Library (BL543A) $12,945.00 |
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Nexsan SATABeast RAID: Fibre Channel iSCSI-to-SATA 7TB $10,999.00 |
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AJ040A-HP StorageWorks MSL8096 2 LTO-4 Ultrium FIBRE CHANNEL 1840 $10,500.00 |
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HP StorageWorks MSL8096 2 LTO-4 Ultrium FIBRE CHANNEL 1840 Tape Library $10,500.00 |
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EMC CLARiiON CX400 Fibre Channel SAN 15x 73GB $9,995.00 |
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Cisco DS-X9124 24-port 4-Gbps Fibre Channel Module with (24) DS-SFP-FC4G-S $9,995.00 |
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CISCO DS-X9704 10gb FC MDS 9000 Series Fibre Channel Switching Module tm $9,490.00 |
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McDATA Fibre Channel ED-6064 64-Port Director Switch $9,478.80 |
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IBM 39Y9280 CISCO SYSTEMS 4GB 20PORT FIBRE CHANNEL SWITCH MODULE $9,352.68 |
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EMC CLARiiON CX300 Fibre Channel SAN 15x 73GB HD $8,995.00 |
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NEW – 466482-B21 – Virtual Connect 8Gb 24-Port Fibre Channel Module $8,372.94 |
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HP MSL4048 1 LTO-5 Ultrium 3280 Fibre Channel Tape Library (BL532A) $7,995.00 |
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Qlogic SanBox2 2Gb fibre channel switch $7,975.00 |
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Sun XTA-3510-CTRL-1G RAID Fibre Channel Controller, 1GB $7,975.00 |
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McDATA Sphereon 2Gb/s Fibre Channel Switch ES-3232 $7,865.97 |
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HP AN974A MSL8096 Tape Library w/ 4 x LTO-4 Ultrium 1840 Fibre Channel Drives $7,423.50 |
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AJ032A HP StorageWorks MSL6060 2 LTO-4 Ultrium 1840 Fibre Channel Library $7,100.00 |
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HP StorageWorks MSL6060 2 LTO-4 Ultrium 1840 Fibre Channel Library $7,100.00 |
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NEW SONY DTF-2 TAPE DRIVE GY-8240FC Fibre Channel DTF2 $6,899.99 |
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IBM 46X2682 LTO ULTRIUM 5FIBRE CHANNEL DRIVE $6,986.65 |
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IBM 46X2682 LTO ULTRIUM 5FIBRE CHANNEL DRIVE $6,986.37 |
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Brocade 300 Fibre Channel Switch (Refurbished) with 24 Ports @ 8 Gbps Each $6,500.00 |
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AJ038A HP MSL4048 2 LTO-4 Ultrium 1840 FIBRE CHANNEL Tape Library $6,500.00 |
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HP MSL4048 2 LTO-4 Ultrium 1840 FIBRE CHANNEL Tape Library $6,500.00 |
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HP StorageWorks MSL2024 1 LTO-5 Ultrium 3000 Fibre Channel Tape Library (BL542A) $6,245.00 |
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HP StorageWorks MSL2024 1 LTO-5 Ultrium 3280 Fibre Channel Tape Library (BL531A) $6,145.00 |
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Lot of 8x QLE2564 Qlogic 8GB Quad Port Fibre Channel Adapters $5,999.00 |
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EMC Dell TR651 DAE4P NS-4PDAE 4Gb Fibre Channel Storage with 12 x 300Gb 4Gb/s Dr $5,687.28 |
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BL532A HP MSL4048 1 LTO-5 Ultrium 3280 Fibre Channel Tape Library $5,900.00 |
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PowerVault TL4000 2 x LTO4 Fibre Channel 1 yr wnty $5,799.00 |
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HP AG325A MSL4048 ULTRIUM 960 2 DRIVE FIBRE CHANNEL TAP $5,750.00 |
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HP AG325B MSL4048 ULTRIUM 960 2 DRIVE FIBRE CHANNEL TAP $5,645.00 |
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HP AD601B MSL6030 2 ULTRIUM 460 LTO 2 Fibre Channel DR $5,445.00 |
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EMC CLARiiON CX700 Fibre Channel SAN 30 x 146GB Drives $4,999.00 |
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16x IBM Storage Disk 450GB 15K 4GB Fibre Channel 17P9928 17P9907 $4,948.01 |
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NEW QLOGIC SB5802V-08A8 5802V Fibre Channel Switch $5,385.56 |
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QLOGIC 16 Port Fibre Channel Switch SANbox2A-16 $5,288.23 |
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BL531A HP MSL2024 1 LTO-5 Ultrium 3280 Fibre Channel Tape Library $5,100.00 |
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**IBM Original** 3588-F4A LTO-4 Fibre Channel Tape $4,900.00 |
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Agilent 1733A 4 Ports 4 Gb/s Fibre Channel Test Module $5,000.00 |
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Agilent 1735A LAN Protocal Fibre Channel Module 4Gb/s $5,000.00 |
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NEW Cisco MDS 9148 Multilayer Fibre Channel Switch $4,888.99 |
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**IBM Original** 3588-F3A LTO-3 2GB Fibre Channel Tape $4,700.00 |
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100 x Seagate 300GB 15K.5 4Gb FC ST3300655FC Fibre Channel Hard Drives Tested $4,700.00 |
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IBM TS3310 3576-8242 LTO5 LTO-5 FIBRE CHANNEL FC TAPE DRIVE 46X4440 $4,500.00 |
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EMC ED-64M Fibre Channel FC Director Switch 100-620-010 Connectrix Network $4,540.35 |
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EMC ED-64M Fibre Channel FC Director Switch 100-620-010 Connectrix Network $4,540.35 |
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EMC ED-64M Fibre Channel FC Director Switch 100-620-010 Connectrix Network $4,540.35 |
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SWITCH 8-PORTS FIBRE CHANNEL FIBER OPTIC 2-PACK X6746A $4,174.23 |
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AJ030A HP StorageWorks MSL6030 1 LTO-4 Ultrium 1840 Fibre Channel Tape Library $4,100.00 |
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HP StorageWorks MSL6030 1 LTO-4 Ultrium 1840 Fibre Channel Tape Library $4,100.00 |
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EMC CLARiiON CX200 Fibre Channel SAN 15x 73GB HD $3,999.00 |
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EMC DS-16B2 16 Port 2Gb/s Fibre Channel Switch $3,999.00 |
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AD609B HP StorageWorks MSL6030 2 Ultrium 960 Drive Fibre Channel Tape Library $4,000.00 |
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BL535A HP MSL LTO-5 Ultrium 3280 Fibre Channel Drive Upgrade Kit $4,000.00 |
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StorageTek LTO-2 Fibre Channel 2G Tape Drive 313953802 $3,950.00 |
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AD611B HP StorageWorks MSL 6060 2 Ultrium 960 Drive Fibre Channel Tape Library $3,900.00 |
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PowerVault TL4000 LTO4 Fibre Channel 1 yr wnty full kit $3,899.00 |
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NEW Q-Logic SANbox 5600 20-Port 4Gb Fibre Channel $3,850.00 |
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Cisco DS-X9124 24-port 4-Gbps Fibre Channel Module $3,800.00 |
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Brocade 7500 SAN Route 18 Ports (16-FC/2-GE) 4Gbps Fibre channel switch + SFP’s $3,791.52 |
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Hp Storageworks 8/20q Fibre Channel Switch – 20 Ports – 8gbps – Hewlett Packard $3,770.32 |
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HP Virtual Connect FlexFabric 10Gb 24-Port Fibre Channel SFP 571956-B21 Hp Wty $3,750.00 |
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QLogic SANbox SB5800V-08A8E Fibre Channel Switch 8 Port $3,699.00 |
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IBM 3581-F28 8-Slot Tape Library Fibre Channel LTO-2 $3,599.00 |
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HP StorageWorks MSL2024 1 LTO-5 Ultrium 3280 Fibre Channel Upgrade Kit AQ273B $3,575.00 |
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IBM 46X6912 LTO ULTRIUM 4 HALF HIGH FIBRE CHANNEL DRIVE SLED $3,589.84 |
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IBM 46X6912 LTO ULTRIUM 4 HALF HIGH FIBRE CHANNEL DRIVE SLED $3,589.84 |
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VP-MOD-4FC-2P 2x 4g Fibre Channel I/o Module $3,581.75 |
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Dell PowerVault ML6020 Tape Library with 2 x LTO3 4Gb Fibre Channel Drives $3,412.37 |
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Qlogic SANbox-8 Fibre Channel Switch 30630-00 A $3,470.00 |
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I-Tech Corp IFC-3016, fibre channel analysis system $3,495.00 |
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HP StorageWorks MSL LTO-5 Ultrium 3000 Fibre Channel Drive Upgrade Kit (AQ293B) $3,475.00 |
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EMC Connectrix DS-4900B 64-Port 4GB Fibre Channel Switch, 32 active ports $3,450.00 |
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AJ034A HP StorageWorks MSL2024 1 LTO-4 Ultrium 1840 Fibre Channel Tape Library $3,400.00 |
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HP StorageWorks MSL2024 1 LTO-4 Ultrium 1840 Fibre Channel Tape Library $3,400.00 |
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EMC CX3-80 100-561-558 HPE-S (Dell KJ730) – FC Fibre Channel CX CLARiiON $2,843.64 |
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Brocade 300 – Switch – 8 x 8Gb Fibre Channel + 16 x SFP Ports on D BR-320-0008-A $3,267.99 |
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HP MDS 9124E FABRIC SWITCH 24-PORTS 4GB FIBRE CHANNEL + 4 X SFP (EMPTY) AG642A $3,244.84 |
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AD608B HP StorageWorks MSL6030 1 Ultrium 960 Drive Fibre Channel Tape Library $3,200.00 |
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EMC CX600 XPE+N Storage Processor Fibre Channel FC SAN Array $2,654.06 |
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QLogic QLE2564-CK -QLogic QLE2564 Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter – Kit $3,180.43 |
