Data Center Ethernet

Evolution of Ethernet in the Data Center

Data Center Ethernet (DCE) is a high-performance enhancement to the Ethernet standard that provides the networking infrastructure required by next generation data centers. In particular, DCE provides architectural scalability, operational controls and transport flexibility through standard Ethernet extensions. DCE allows architects to create a stable, lossless transport layer.

As data centers grow in size and complexity, the effort to manage different interconnect technologies for traffic from multiple applications is becoming resource and cost intensive. With recent advances in Ethernet speeds (10 Gbps is an established standard, with 40/100 Gbps in development), Ethernet has become an attractive choice as the technology for convergence in the data center.

As data center consolidation continues, next generation storage area networks (SANs) must be integrated with the data center network. Fibre channel is a mature and robust technology that has been the dominant transport mechanism for SANs. Ethernet has clearly become the standard for local area networks (LANs). The majority of fibre channel deployments use 4 Gbps data rates and it is unlikely that the standard will move past 8 Gbps. Ethernet already operates at 10 Gbps, with 40/100 Gbps actively moving forward. With the requirement to consolidate servers and networks, the clear trend is to move toward an all-Ethernet transport while providing interoperability and backwards compatibility. Fibre channel over Ethernet (FCoE) enables the consolidation of fibre channel and Ethernet traffic on a single network which reduces the number of interfaces and cables required as well as the power and data center cooling costs.

In order for Ethernet to support FCoE requirements, certain characteristics of Ethernet must be addressed. Data Center Ethernet is the terminology used to refer to Ethernet enhancements to support this technology. "Lossless" Ethernet must be maintained in order to support data center needs such as FCoE. In order to support lossless operation, standards bodies are in the final stages of finalizing DCE protocols. Among these are priority flow control (PFC), enhanced transmission selection (ETS) and congestion notification (CN). Ixia has developed a comprehensive test solution that can be used to determine the functionality, performance and scalability of FCoE enabled devices.

Key Features

• Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) support
• FCoE Initialization Protocol (FIP) support*
• Lossless Ethernet support
• Protocol and traffic wizard for FCoE and FIP testing
• FCoE virtualization: ENode and VN_Port emulation
• FCoE initialization and maintenance protocols
• FIP discovery, initialization and maintenance protocols*
• Name server register
• Custom name server profiles repository
• Full emulation of FC targets and initiators
• Stateful implementation of SCSI commands over FCoE*
• Priority-based flow control (PFC) with up to 8 groups*
• Per-priority group statistics for PFC performance validation
• Automated FCoE performance test suites and FCoE latency analysis
• FCoE and classical Ethernet traffic on the same port
• 10 Gbps traffic per port, with up to 96 ports in a single chassis

* Available Q1'09

Product Solutions

• IxExplorer provides GUI access to all Ixia platform functionality with full support for stateless FCoE functional and scalability testing. The FCoE and Priority Flow Control (PFC) and FCoE Initialization Protocol (FIP) features allow testing of FCoE switches running both FCoE traffic and traditional Ethernet traffic.
• IxSAN* provides real-world, large-scale emulation of fibre channel protocol (FCP) targets and initiators, over Ethernet providing immense flexibility in testing FC devices and systems. IxSAN easily replaces JBOD (just a bunch of disks) or disk arrays in design verification test (DVT), quality assurance (QA) and development environments. The ability to configure, save and rapidly restore 100's of different target disk configurations alone makes the system an excellent, cost effective replacement option for fibre channel drives. IxSAN's ability to emulate a customized storage array or JBOD offers an attractive alternative to physical devices. Additionally, IxSAN provides rapid configurability and performance simulation functionality that cannot be found in physical disks or arrays. IxSAN is supported on full feature versions of NGY.
• IxAutomate is a test application that includes over one hundred automated prebuilt tests. IxAutomate requires minimal configuration and quickly generates performance test results. Test suites are available for routing, switching, access, triple play and now FCoE testing. The new FCoE performance test suite provides the ability to characterize forwarding performance, including throughput and latency using real FCoE traffic with integrated control-plane messaging. The tests can concurrently benchmark FCoE with standard Ethernet traffic. IxAutomate includes a batch scheduler that allows several tests to be run in succession. IxAutomate includes additional components, including the data miner and statistics viewer that are in common with other Ixia test applications.
• IxNetwork* is a test application that provides functional, scale and performance testing with integrated control-plane and data plane control. IxNetwork supports routing, switching, access, authentication, triple play, Carrier Ethernet and now FCoE protocols. It provides wizard-based configuration for fast setup as well as manual configuration for deep functionality. IxNetwork has an integrated traffic wizard to quickly build traffic with the configured protocols. IxAutomate includes additional components, including the data miner and statistics viewer that are in common with other Ixia test applications.

* Available Q1'09

FCoE testing requires an NGY load module with FCoE option.
IxSAN requires full featured NGY load modules.

Features and Specifications

Protocols	Lossless Ethernet Priority-based Flow Control DCB Capability Exchange Protocol (DCBX) FCoE FLOGI FDISC PLOGI Name Server LOGO RSCN FIP Discovery FLOGI NPIV FDISC Keepalive Clear Virtual Links LOGO
Standards	INCITS/T11 433-2007 FC-LS 427-2007 FC-GS-5 FC-BB-5 FIP VLAN Discovery IEEE Std. 802.3ae Std. 802.3x P802.1Qbb P802.1Qaz

Ordering Information

NGY 10 Gb interface modules

944-0060
LSM10GXM8XP-01, 10 Gigabit Ethernet Load Module, 8-Port LAN/WAN, Extra-Performance version with XFP interface.

944-0040
LSM10GXM8-01, 10 Gigabit Ethernet Load Module, 8-Port LAN/WAN, Full Performance version with XFP interface.

944-0044
LSM10GXMR8-01, 10 Gigabit Ethernet Load Module, 8-Port LAN/WAN, Reduced Performance version with XFP interface.

944-0059
LSM10GXM4XP-01, 10 Gigabit Ethernet Load Module, 4-Port LAN/WAN, Extra- Performance version with XFP interface.

944-0039
LSM10GXM4-01, 10 Gigabit Ethernet Load Module, 4-Port LAN/WAN, Full Performance version with XFP interface.

944-0043
LSM10GXMR4-01, 10 Gigabit Ethernet Load Module, 4-Port LAN/WAN, Reduced Performance version with XFP interface.

944-0048
LSM10GXM2XP-01, 10 Gigabit Ethernet Load Module, 2-Port LAN/WAN, Extra- Performance version with XFP interface.

944-0049
LSM10GXMR2-01, 10 Gigabit Ethernet Load Module, 2-Port LAN/WAN, Reduced Performance version with XFP interface

FCoE Hardware Options

944-0064
SW-FCoE-OPT8, Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) Option for 8-port NGY, License per module; Supported on both full-featured and reduced-feature set load modules; REQUIRES Purchase of a supported load module [see 944-0040 (LSM10GXM8-01), 944-0044 (LSM10GXMR8-01), or 944-0060 (LSM10GXM8XP-01)]

944-0063
SW-FCoE-OPT4, Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) Option for 4-port NGY, License per module; Supported on both full-featured and reduced-feature set load modules; REQUIRES Purchase of a supported load module [see 944-0039 (LSM10GXM4-01), 944-0043 (LSM10GXMR4-01), or 944-0059 (LSM10GXM4XP-01)]

944-0056
SW-FCoE-OPT2, Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) Option for 2-port NGY, License per module; Supported on both full-featured and reduced-feature set load modules; REQUIRES purchase of a supported load module [see 944-0048 (LSM10GXM2XP-01) or 944-0049 (LSM10GXMR2-01)]

IxSAN Application

944-0073
SW-SAN-OPT8, IxSAN application that provide Initiator and Target Emulation for FC/FCoE Support; Option for 8-port NGY, License per module; Supported on full-featured set load modules only; REQUIRES Purchase of a supported load module [944-0040 (LSM10GXM8-01), or 944-0060 (LSM10GXM8XP-01)], AND previous or adjoining purchase of 944-0064 (SW-FCoE-OPT8)

944-0072
SW-SAN-OPT4, IxSAN application provide Initiator and Target Emulation for FC/FCoE Support; Option for 4-port NGY, License per module; Supported on full-featured set load modules only; REQUIRES purchase of a supported load module [944-0039 (LSM10GXM4-01) or 944-0059 (LSM10GXM4XP-01)], AND previous or adjoining purchase of 944-0063 (SW-FCoE-OPT4)

944-0071
SW-SAN-OPT2, IxSAN application provide Initiator and Target Emulation for FC/FCoE Support; Option for 2-port NGY, License per module; Supported on full-featured set load modules 0nly; REQUIRES purchase of a supported load module [see 944-0048 (LSM10GXM2XP-01)] AND previous or adjoining purchase of 944-0056 (SW-FCoE-OPT2)

IxAutomate 928-0261
IxAutomate, Optional Software, Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) Performance Test Suite; Includes throughput test with configurable traffic mapping, priority setting and integrated FLOGI, PLOGI and NS commands; REQUIRES 928-0200 Framework GUI, AND an NGY load module with FCoE enabled.

IxNetwork 930-2039
IxNetwork, Software Option, Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) Emulation; REQUIRES 930-1999 base IxNetwork software AND an NGY load module with FCoE enabled

P/N: 915-2501-01 Rev A – December 2008

This material is for informational purposes only and subject to change without notice. It describes Ixia's present plans to develop and make available to its customers certain products, features and capabilities. Ixia is only obligated to provide those deliverables specifically included in a written agreement between Ixia and the customer.

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