IntroductionFor the last decade, Fi

Introduction
For the last decade, Fibre Channel has been the primary choice for the majority of enterprise storage
area network (SAN) infrastructures. Specifically Fibre Channel has been the default SAN technology for
many medium to large sized businesses and data centers; especially those that have high bandwidth, high
transaction, or low latency needs. Over the last six years, iSCSI has begun to carve out a market in the small
to medium sized business (SMB) computing environment while running on commodity 1 Gigabit Ethernet
networks. Although significantly slower than Fibre Channel, iSCSI has filled the needs of many SMB
environments as it has measurably lowered the cost of entry of an initial SAN purchase.
However, in recent months, the emergence of 10 Gigabit Ethernet has some enterprise users wondering if
iSCSI can now be considered for evaluation or deployment in enterprise environments. As Fibre Channel
and iSCSI are dissimilar technologies, there are several considerations that need to be discussed before
this question can be factually answered.
The Basics of iSCSI & Fibre Channel technologies:
8 Gigabit Fibre Channel
Fibre Channel began to make major inroads into enterprise storage with 1 Gigabit products that began
shipping in 1997. There have been three major performance enhancements to Fibre Channel, the most
recent being 8 Gigabit technologies.
The main concept of Fibre Channel was that it was designed t

Introduction
For the last decade, Fibre Channel has been the primary choice for the majority of enterprise storage
area network (SAN) infrastructures. Specifically Fibre Channel has been the default SAN technology for
many medium to large sized businesses and data centers; especially those that have high bandwidth, high
transaction, or low latency needs. Over the last six years, iSCSI has begun to carve out a market in the small
to medium sized business (SMB) computing environment while running on commodity 1 Gigabit Ethernet
networks. Although significantly slower than Fibre Channel, iSCSI has filled the needs of many SMB
environments as it has measurably lowered the cost of entry of an initial SAN purchase.
However, in recent months, the emergence of 10 Gigabit Ethernet has some enterprise users wondering if
iSCSI can now be considered for evaluation or deployment in enterprise environments. As Fibre Channel
and iSCSI are dissimilar technologies, there are several considerations that need to be discussed before
this question can be factually answered.
The Basics of iSCSI & Fibre Channel technologies:
8 Gigabit Fibre Channel
Fibre Channel began to make major inroads into enterprise storage with 1 Gigabit products that began
shipping in 1997. There have been three major performance enhancements to Fibre Channel, the most
recent being 8 Gigabit technologies.
The main concept of Fibre Channel was that it was designed t

Introduction
For the last decade Fibre Channel, has been the primary choice for the majority of enterprise storage
area Network (SAN) infrastructures. Specifically Fibre Channel has been the default SAN technology for
many medium to large Sized businesses and data centers; especially those that have, high bandwidth high
transaction or low, latency needs. Over The last, six yearsISCSI has begun to carve out a market in the small
to medium sized business (SMB) computing environment while running On commodity 1 Gigabit Ethernet
networks. Although significantly slower than Fibre Channel iSCSI has, filled the needs Of many SMB
environments as it has measurably lowered the cost of entry of an initial SAN purchase.
However in recent, MonthsThe emergence of 10 Gigabit Ethernet has some enterprise users wondering if
iSCSI can now be considered for evaluation Or deployment in enterprise environments. As Fibre Channel
and iSCSI are dissimilar technologies there are, several considerations That need to be discussed before
this question can be factually answered.
The Basics of iSCSI & Fibre Channel technologies:
8 Gigabit Fibre Channel
Fibre Channel began to make major inroads into enterprise storage with 1 Gigabit products that Began
shipping in 1997. There have been three major performance enhancements to, Fibre Channel the most
recent being 8 Gigabit Technologies.
The main concept of Fibre Channel was that it was designed t