On 7/19/2012 6:24 AM, Iwan Hoogendoorn wrote: > Hey all, > > I am looking for some (cheap) hardware to build an storage array that can > talk iSCSI and FCoE. > Can anybody here help me with building a hardware list?
Your question is very broad and it's hard to pick hardware without knowing what your needs are. There are a variety of FCoE capable CNAs (adapters) that have evolved from FC HBAs and there are Ethernet adapters that use SW to do the FC/FCoE protocol. Some of the Ethernet adapters have offloads to assist the I/O path, so there is a lot of grey area. There is a wide range of offerings regarding FCoE solutions. I work for Intel, so I would suggest you use Intel Ethernet adapters; I'm sure that developers at other vendors would have a different opinion. Since this list is a development resource and not a marketing portal so I'd rather not get into whose-adapter-is-better argument here. If you would like to know more about Intel Ethernet adapters I'd be happy to help you off-list. The Open-FCoE project supports any Ethernet adapter, so if you're simply looking for the cheapest solution then finding the cheapest Ethernet adapter that supports Open-FCoE would be one way to go. However, FC and FCoE are complicated protocols, so finding a vendor that "supports Open-FCoE" is the key. Intel, Cisco and Broadcom have been the majority contributors to this project and I think that speaks to level of support that those adapters are given by the vendors. There are a lot of things to consider. iSCSI vs FCoE: Do you have an existing FC installation? Are you starting a new SAN? Are you using DCB? Are you going through a switch/FCF, which one? Hope this helps, //Rob _______________________________________________ devel mailing list devel@open-fcoe.org https://lists.open-fcoe.org/mailman/listinfo/devel
