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Normal Fiber switch with SAN switch

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by lcw

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I'm planning a SAN solution.Instead of buying those SAN switches like Brocade can I use the normal network switch which also have the fiber port which are the same LC connector?Is there are different betweens those switches

4 replies

by fbartolom

I would frankly deny this possibility: normal switches manage TCP-protocol traffic; SAN Switches manage Fiber Channel protocol traffic: something 3 or 4 OSI levels below....

by theroyala9

thats a good question. i've seen these
advertised as using an ip protocol but what i
read is iscsi uses standard ethernet type ip and
fibre channel is something else. there may be
device which does both. there the basic fc scsi
protocol would be taken and made ineroperable and
whats the point of that if you've got fc anyways.
and if its like that for why try and switch
switches. youd need cable equipment just to put
up enough bandwith with a risc processor.

by jwiniewicz

While there are many IP based data movement topologies such as iSCSI, FCIP, iFCP, each of these has their respective places in what they were designed to do. You need to do a ton of research and get an understanding of the deferences between FC SAN and IP SAN, get an idea of how big your SAN will be and the type of data and applications it will need to support, as well as geographic considerations before you can decide the type of infrastructure you require. Good luck on your SAN design.

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