Network Storage – Solutions Combining Gigabit Ethernet, 10Gb Ethernet, and Fiber Channel

10gbethernetfibernetwork-storage

We currently have Brocade 200E fiber switches, connecting 2 EMC CLARiiONs to 4 VMware ESXi hosts. We are looking into new storage options using iSCSI with our existing ethernet network, including the possibility of gradually upgrading to 10 gigabit. I have been searching for any kind of 10GBASE-T switch, that is backwards-compatible to 1 gigabit, and includes the fiber channel ports necessary to connect to the Brocades/CLARiiONs as well.

I am not very experienced with storage administration and fiber channel, so I understand this question might have an obvious answer of "no", but it did seem like the Cisco Nexus 5010 with a module (N5K-M1008) might work.

I also thought about using a 10Gb switch (Dell Powerconnect 8024) that has the SFP ports for uplink to other switches. Are these SFP ports capable of connecting to the fiber ports on the Brocade (not necessarily just on this Dell switch, but any switch like this), or are they designed only to work as uplink to the same model?

Any insight into the specifics of fiber switching, and how fiber ports are classified would be helpful.

EDIT: I've held off commenting because I was learning a good deal from the answers, and wanted to be able to clarify as best I could. I don't necessarily need a simple switch, but more a single device that can do this (so a Cisco Nexus with the necessary modules could work). Also, it seems like for this to function, I would need my new storage to be able to support FCoE over the 10Gbps links, so that it could then reach my hosts over FC.

I understand that getting the zoning right on the FC switch might be overly complicated, but I want to see if my understanding of the technologies is now correct. So, assuming this could be accomplished, would a Nexus switch that has the 10Gbps ports, as well as FC ports from a module that connect to exisiting FC switches, be able to connect a new storage device (that can speak FCoE) to my existing hosts?

Best Answer

You can do this with FCoE. I've seen vendors call this "Unified Network" or "Converged Network".

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