Time to get over the fibre fixation

BANGALORE, INDIA: No doubt, fibre channel (FC) has been the show stopper for over 15 years when it comes to data centre network storage protocols, and Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) had to take a backseat for many reasons despite the hype it created during its launch in 2003.

However, the latter which has been always referred to as, "low-end, cheap and a poor performer", is today slowly making inroads into the space of FC, more so into FCP's (Fibre Channel Protocol, an interface protocol of SCSI on the Fibre Channel).

Also Read: Convergence of networking and storage

iSCSI, a storage networking standard based on TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet protocol) used to carry SCSI data over IP networks, is strengthening itself plugging loopholes for which it has been derided all these years.

Let's try and tackle the most often quoted association that iSCSI had since its inception days, i.e 'It's for the SMB types' and that not so important data should be carried over it.

Says K Raghavan, principal technical consultant, Cisco, "There have always been a tendency to use iSCSI in light-weight connectivity scenarios in data centres. iSCSI is a good fit for small networks/organizations and test/proof of concept environments. Any serious enterprise deployment should be looking at something like FCoE (Fibre Channel over Ethernet), if they are looking at converging storage and data networks."

Agrees Harmeet S. Malhotra, Enterprise Solutions Marketing Director- Asia Pacific & Japan, Storage & Unified Fabric Solutions Marketing, Dell. However, he clarifies that it is the cheap low-end versions of iSCSI that have a major market in SMB.

"Whereas, today high performance iSCSI products meant for mid-range segments are available, although from very few vendors, which even large corporates can look at," Malhotra adds.

If ever so, large enterprises, who have been supporting fibre channel all these years, will take some more time before considering to move on to iSCSI protocol, because it would mean doing away with their fibre channel network investment, worth thousands of crores of rupees.

So, if at all there is a change, it will be a slow and gradual one, says Harmeet. More so because, "What we see is that they (FS products) happen to have a longer sales cycle. So enterprises have to do a good debate between what they already have and what is coming up," adds Harmeet.

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iSCSI narrowing gap with FC

Companies evaluating iSCSI are driven primarily by the need to lower the cost of their storage infrastructure.

A recent report from Forrester Consulting, based on a survey commissioned by Dell Equalogic, suggests that iSCSI is narrowing the gap with fibre channel.

Where 59 per cent voted in favour of fibre channel, a not-so-bad 57 percentage of the votes went in favour of iSCSI. However, what might interest is the fact that out of it, where 66 per cent of SMBs cited iSCSI, only 47 percent of large enterprises supported it.

Not a surprising fact, since it's been so for a long period despite high acquisition prices and proprietary issues with FC.

Although iSCSI accounts for a mere 13 percent of revenues and a similar percentage in terms of capacity in the overall networked storage market, IDC estimates that the iSCSI market will grow 58 percent this year, vs. 17 percent for the overall networked storage market.

Moreover, the analyst firm adds that in terms of capacity growth, the iSCSI market is expected to surge 117 percent in 2010, vs. 90 percent for the total networked storage market.

However, even now, when iSCSI technologists cry dry and hoarse about its advancements - it can support major operating systems such as Microsoft and Linux, has addressed high OS latency, TCP/IP overhead, bandwidth and 'lossy Ethernet' issues with data centre bridging capability (DCB), is available in 10Gb/s when FC still operates in 8Gbit/s, and that the 40GbE and 100 GbE standards have been ratified -  it still falls on deaf ears.

More so because companies want to save their fibre channel investments and skill sets worth crores, says the industry.

Chandranshu Singh, senior analyst, Ovum India, says: “Most large enterprises already have FC storage networks deployed and this is about protecting their investments in FC technology.”

Malhotra notes that this trend is also because of the undue hype that is being created by a few vendors about fibre channel, especially FCoE, since they lack good mid-range iSCSI solution. Whereas, iSCSI is capable of providing the same capabilities that FCoE touts to provide, and that too over 10GbE.

So, moving on large companies might get over with the fear of losing their FC investments by the time they go in for a network refresh (which by definition involves a rip-n-replace), feels Singh.

“We will then see the market share for iSCSI grow at the expense of FC and FCoE,” Singh sums it up.