Picking The Next Storage Networking Protocol
The data center is under immense pressure to scale the infrastructure to support more virtual machines, more users per database and to deal with the capacity growth caused by big data. As they refresh their storage systems to address these demands they also need to consider which storage networking protocol and topology they should use. The problem is that selecting the right protocol and topology can be daunting and the consequences of making a wrong selection could be irreparable. In this video we are joined by CISCO to walk customers through that selection process.
As we discuss in the video there are three basic options available today in storage infrastructures. First are the classic storage networking technologies available today that are based on fibre channel or Ethernet. These are commonly used for legacy applications like databases and virtual environments.
Then there are the newer fabric-based Ethernet networks which allow the move to more converged architectures. The goal of these architectures is to reduce costs by reducing the number of HBAs and switches that need to be bought. These architectures are very popular in big data and the cloud but are working their way into legacy architectures as well.
There will be a time of transition for almost any data center. During this transition there will very likely be a mixture of fibre channel, legacy Ethernet and Ethernet fabric employed. It is important to leverage solutions that allow you to make that transition at the pace you and the organization are comfortable with. For some data centers that may be a very slow transition for others it may be very rapid.
As we discuss in the video the key design goal for an IT planner should be to not get locked into one particular protocol or another. Flexibility is vital to long term success. You want to make sure that you decide on an infrastructure that will allow you to change direction if you need to in the future.
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