Intel Adapter: SAN plus LAN = FCoE

Chip manufacturer Intel has added Fibre Channel over Ethernet functionality (FcoE) to its 10 Gbit Ethernet adapters for PCIe slots. FCoE supports standardized, fast transmission of data traffic on a Fibre Channel SAN via Ethernet on the local network. According to Intel FcoE support is avo both for Windows and for Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

The new FCoE function offered by Intel's Ethernet Server adapters (see figure) allows both storage and LAN traffic transmissions over Ethernet.

FCoE is a specification by the T11 Technical Committee whose members include Sun, HP, and Cisco besdies Intel. T11 is a subgroup for Fibre Channel interfaces within the International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS). The FCoE specification is due for ratification later this year. A free Linux implementation of the FCoE standard became available at the end of last year.