Storage Networking
10 Gigabit Ethernet, enhanced with Chelsio’s communication-protocol
acceleration technology, boosts storage bandwidth and facilitates the
move to IP SANs, providing the benefit of unifying the datacenter to a single networking technology.
Applications
- Messaging
- On-line Transaction Processing
- Decision Support Systems
- Video Editing
- High-Performance
Computing
File-oriented Network Attached Storage (NAS)and block-oriented Storage Area Networks (SAN) have become dominant in enterprise storage. With SAN/NAS-driven Storage consolidation delivering compelling management and availability benefits, organizations are moving away from Direct Attached Storage (DAS). In addition to making data available to the whole organization, NAS and SAN systems let organizations grow and manage storage without disrupting critical applications. NAS provides file-level access to its storageforallitsclients. NAS systems serve files to computers over the datacenter LAN,
commonly using Gigabit Ethernet today.
A SAN is a network for conveying block level data between servers and dedicated storage systems. The “killerapp” for SANs is storing databases, as database management systems (DBMS)typically convey block-level, rather than file-level, traffic. Servers that use the SAN today are outfitted w ith a dedicated Fibre Channel networkinterface. Theirapplications’ storage-services program interface (API), typically SCSI, is configured to direct applications’ requests for block storage services to the SAN ratherthat to a local diskcontroller. Thus,thenetwork interface “spoofs” a local disk controller, and carries SCSIcommands and responses in Fibre Channel packets, transparently to applications.
The Challenge
While both departmental and mission-critical application servers can utilize GbE-based NAS systems for enterprise-wide consolidation of file data, access to Fibre Channel SANs for block storage consolidation is limited to core data centers.
Although Ethernet is by far the most widely installed networking technology, it was not the initial technology for SANs. Rather, it was Fibre Channel that better met SANs’ requirement for low latency and low burden on the host-system for processing protocols. To explain, processing block-level storage requests and responses entail a considerable sequence of synchronizing messages between server and storage, so the delay for each message must be short, and the tax on the host processor for embedding the messages in a network protocol must be low. Now, 10GbE is here with low latency, low overhead, better ease of use, and compatibility with the rest of the enterprise’s Ethernet networks.
The Challenge
Data-center demands for storage capacity and traffic keep grow ing, because of increased use of enterprise applications, ecommerce, and scientific applications. Disk drive capacity and CPU speed both increase every year, pressuring IT managers, as well as NAS, SAN, and servervendors to use faster netw ork technologies.
Chelsio’s 10 Gigabit protocol engines have dedicated silicon for offloading and accelerating protocols used in data-centershared storage. This capability enables 10 G igabit Ethernet to offer dramatic improvements in capabilities and cost for the next generation of shared storage. In particular, Chelsio’s implementation of the iSCSI protocol for SANs,which carries SCSI commands and responses in TCP/IP packets over Ethernet, meets the stringent low latency and low CPU overhead-overhead-for-packetprocessing requirements forSAN.
Benefits
10 G igabit Ethernet w ith Chelsio’s protocol offload technology provides dramatic advantages for data-center shared
storage systems.
Convergence of SAN and LAN
When SANs use the same network technology as the data-center LAN, the organization can reduce the cost for network interfaces, switches, cabling, management tools, spares, and technical skills needed to maintain tw o networks.
Bandwidth
A server with a 10G bE link forused for both LAN and block storage has over triple the bandw idth of one w ith a G igabit Ethernet LAN link and a 2Gbps Fibre Channel SAN link.
Ethernet Cost Profile
Ethernet is the most widely deployed networking technology. Each Ethernet generation’s scale economies have driven down prices farther and faster than any other networking technology. Today, 10GbE is largely uses fiber media. Recently Chelsio introduced the first 10GbE network interface for copper technology, employing a copper media standard that Infiniband uses. In 2006, the industry will ratify its standard for twisted copper pair wiring. Chelsio, along with all other 10GbE vendors will introduce 10GBASE-T interfaces ands witches at low cost.
Integration of block-and file-storage capabilities
Linking servers, block storage systems, and filers w ith a single network technology that can simultaneously support file and block protocols eliminates barriers to developing systems that support both block and file traffic.
The Solution
Chelsio protocole ngines enable highly scalable iSCSI and NAS storage, making the vision of enterprise-wide G bE/IP-based storage consolidation a reality. Chelsio’s protocol engines enable high bandwidth and simplified managementf or both NAS and SAN while allowing a unified storage Ethernet network. 
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