16GB FIBRE CHANNEL


FCIA


18


occur when the number of HBAs, switches and end devices can be decreased with the higher performance of 16GFC. In the example in Figure 1, a Top of Rack (ToR) switch needs 100 Gbps of bandwidth so the user needs eight 16GFC ISLs instead of sixteen 8GFC ISLs. Similar comparisons between 16GFC ISLs and 8GFC ISLs are given in the table in Figure 1 to show how fewer ports and links are needed at 16GFC. Besides the reduction in equipment that cuts power consumption dramatically, 16GFC also reduces the power required to transfer bits on the link. When the cost of cabling and operating expenses (opex) such as electricity and cooling are considered, the total cost of ownership (TCO) is often less when links are run at twice the speed.


The goal of 16GFC designs is for a


16GFC port to consume less power than two 8GFC links that deliver the same throughput.


Initial estimates for


power consumption show 16GFC SFP+s consuming 0.75 Watts of power while 8GFC SFP+ consuming 0.5 Watts of power. These estimates show that a 16GFC link will consume 25% less power than two 8GFC ports.


If fewer links are needed, cable management becomes simpler. Managing cables behind a desktop or home entertainment center are bad enough, but managing


hundreds of cables from a single switch or bundles of cable from a server can be horrendous. The reduction of cables aids in troubleshooting and recabling. The cost of cabling is significant and users can pay over $300/port in structured cabling environments. Reducing the number of links by using fast 16GFC links aids cable management.


The end result of 16GFC is that there are less links, less cables, less ports and less power for the same performance. Figure 2 shows the comparison of one 16GFC link to two 8GFC links.


The largest benefits of the 16GFC


ports will be the fewer number of HBAs and switch ports that are connected to these media.


Applications of 16GFC


16GFC is designed for high bandwidth applications that include:  ISLs – covered in previous section  High Bandwidth Applications  Data Migration  Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)  Solid State Disks or memory arrays


The type of servers that need 16GFC HBAs will run high bandwidth applications.


The majority of servers that use


Figure 2: Comparison of media WIN 2010 WWW.SNSEUROPE.COM


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