For small and midsize businesses, storage requirements have been growing. Selecting the right solution recently became more difficult as Fibre Channel vendors made their approach more viable for smaller businesses, but that also means more choice.
As companies store more information in their data centers, they need high-speed networks to move information from device to device. Fibre Channel, which has been available for a few decades, has met this need in large enterprises. As it has become easier to use, Fibre Channel has grown more appealing for smaller organizations. Meanwhile, iSCSI evolved to meet the requirements of smaller businesses and has gradually gained more functionality. The two have been on a collision course and now represent the two prime options whenever companies need to put a storage area network (SAN) in place.
ISCSI has been a popular choice for small and midsize businesses because this approach uses the same cabling, network adapters, and switches as Ethernet networks. This often means that SAN deployments are straightforward and can be dropped into business networks, sometimes in as little as half an hour. In addition, iSCSI is simple to maintain, and finding and keeping technicians familiar with it is a manageable task. By comparison, Fibre Channel is a complex technology, and skilled technicians are often difficult to hire and expensive once they are onboard.
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Standards-based systems are typically cheaper than products based on proprietary interfaces. That's been the case with iSCSI devices. Fibre Channel started out as IBM product but was eventually adopted as an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard. While cost differences vary by individual configuration, the iSCSI hardware savings range from 10% on the low end to 50% at the high end. In addition, smaller businesses can often cut their software expenses by using iSCSI. Because of competitive pressures, vendors often bundle add-on applications, such as data backup solutions, with their iSCSI products.
Fibre Channel has a number of strong points. Its long history means that it has been deployed in many enterprises and a large number of customers rely on it; this approach represents approximately 70% to 80% of all SAN deployments. Also, this option has also been able to deliver high-speed network connections consistently. Vendors are just now starting to roll out 10G iSCSI products, but such developments have typically been a step or two behind Fibre Channel deliveries.
Fibre Channel has more configuration flexibility because it can transmit information over great distances than iSCSI can. A Fibre Channel SAN can support cables over distances of 12 kilometers, compared with about 100 meters for iSCSI SANs.
If a company is looking for sophisticated management functions, Fibre Channel may be the better option. ISCSI products come with monitoring and reporting tools, but they can be a little bit light. Fibre Channel solutions often delve a bit more deeply into items, such as network and processor usage, so users get a clearer of what is happening with their transactions.
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One limitation with Fibre Channel was that it did not run natively over Ethernet. That scenario is changing: Vendors developed the Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) standard, which was completed earlier this year. Compliant products are starting to make their way into the pipeline. In April, Cisco acquired Nuova Systems, a startup focused on FCoE products. The first product from Nuova Systems is the Nexus 5000 series devices, a 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch that relies on Cisco technologies, such as the company's Nexus Operating System, to support Fibre Channel connectivity.
Cisco is a typical Fibre Channel supporter. Well-established companies, such as Hewlett-Packard and IBM, have been prime drivers in this marketplace. Initially, iSCSI products came from small, often startup, suppliers with limited track records. The iSCSI vendor landscape has been changing recently as companies such as Dell, HP, IBM, and Sun have moved into the iSCSI marketplace, but if an organization desires top-of-the-line support for its storage products, Fibre Channel may be the better option.
As storage requirements grow, SANs are becoming more common. For small and midsize businesses with complex storage requirements, Fibre Channel may be the better option. For those seeking a simple, inexpensive, easy-to-maintain solution, then iSCSI may be a better choice.
See more columns by Paul Korzeniowski.
Paul Korzeniowski is a Sudbury, Mass.-based freelance writer who has been writing about networking issues for two decades. His work has appeared in Business 2.0, Entrepreneur, Investor's Business Daily, Newsweek, and InformationWeek.
