Data center storage evolution: FcoE vs iSCSI

Traditional Data Centers have at least a LAN Ethernet network to communicate user, servers and services and a SAN Fiber Chanel network to communicate servers with the storage area. Thus means using 2 technologies such as Ethernet and Fiber Channel, and the need to double all the resources with the corresponding increase of the budget.

To solve this problem, nowadays we try to consolidate LAN and SAN in a unique infrastructure to get to a converged network. To do this we can use different technologies as FCoE ( Fiber Chanel over Ethernet) or iSCSI (Small Computer System Interface over IP).

While FcoE is a Cisco technology, iSCSI is a mature technology developed by IETF, and its important to understand that none of them are obsolete and we'll have to choose the more suitable depending on the application scope.

Let's do a comparison of FcoE vs iSCSI.

FCoE map Fiber Chanel frames over Ethernet enabling a lossless network using ethernet connections.
Advantages and Disavantages:

+ Interoperability with existing Fiber Chanel SAN

+ Lossless of packets

+Higher throughtput at lower host CPU utilization

- High cost due to the utilization of Fiber Chanel

iSCSI transport protocol operates over TCP/IP, delegating to TCP the recovery of packets.
Advantages and Disadvantages:

+ Low cost due to the utilization of Ethernet

+ Open technology used by any provider

+ Simple to set up and troubleshoot

- Affected by overload generated by TCP transmissions

There are lots of forums and webs discussing the benefits of each technology, but what i can conclude is that FcoE is more suitable for large environments such as a data center with a big budget, while iSCSI will be used for smaller environments.