1 / 15

Development Directions for Extended Fabrics: Common Architectures vs. vSANs

This document explores the future development of extended fabric architectures, comparing the common fabric architecture with virtual Storage Area Networks (vSANs). It addresses key issues like increased connectivity, scalability, resource sharing, and fault isolation while maintaining support for legacy devices. The proposed architectures aim to simplify complex systems by incorporating unified elements such as switching and gateway functions, aiming for a standardized extended frame format. Key components include hierarchical addressing and tagged frame formats, providing a robust foundation for multi-fabric networking.

mason
Télécharger la présentation

Development Directions for Extended Fabrics: Common Architectures vs. vSANs

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. FC Fabric Extension Issues Charles Monia Nishan Systems Corporation August 13, 2003 T11/03-499v1

  2. Problem • Which development direction for extended fabrics? • Common fabric architecture or • vSANs orthogonal to other partitioned fabric Architectures Page 2

  3. Proposed Architectures • Address the following issues: • Increased connectivity, scalability, physical resource sharing and fault isolation. • Continued support for legacy devices • vSANs (03-220v0, 03-352v0, 03-354v0) • Partitions physical fabric into isolated virtual fabrics • Inter-Fabric FC Architecture (03-219v1) • Defines multi-fabric SAN with inter-fabric connectivity • “Fabric Expansion Requirements” (03-332v0) • fabric partitioned into “sub fabrics” similar to inter-fabric FC architecture. Page 3

  4. Goals of a common architecture • Reduce complexity • One Extended Frame Format • Common architectural elements, such as: • Switching function • Gateway function • Make vSANs more extensible • Incorporate vSAN-style resource partitioning within a single physical box (as suggested by 03-219v1). • Per T11/03-332 Requirements • Preserve inter-fabric and vSAN fault isolation • Support legacy devices Page 4

  5. Basis for common architecture • All extensions define a two-level hierarchical address space. • vSAN I/D + 24-bit FC address • Fabric I/D + 24-bit FC address • Suggests that it may be possible to define a common extended frame format and architecture • vSAN becomes a special case Page 5

  6. Extended SAN SAN Inter Fabric Addressing Inter Fabric Services Inter Fabric Network Fabric/vSAN C Fabric/vSAN A Fabric/vSAN B Gateway Function Fabrics/vSANs Switch Function End-Device Page 6

  7. Ingredients • Common elements • Hierarchical address format • Tagged frame format • Added components (from 03-219v1, 03-332v0) • Gateway • Extended routing architecture Page 7

  8. FC Extended Address • Hierarchical address space: • Fabric/vSAN Identifier • Standard, 24-bit N_Port I/D Page 8

  9. Tagged Frame Format Contains source vSAN/FabricI/D and destination vSAN/FabricI/D Tagging Header Contains 24-bit D_ID andS_ID FC Frame Body Page 9

  10. Functional Components • Switch Function • Provides fabric attachment for a collection of E_Ports or F_Ports belonging to the same vSAN or fabric. • Per 03-219v1, 03-354v0, physical switch may house several switch functions. Page 10

  11. Functional Components (con’t) • Gateway Function (from 03-219v1) • Provides inter-fabric access for the N_Ports within a fabric. • Several gateway functions may be housed within a physical switch or gateway Page 11

  12. Routing Extensions • FC-SW Extensions • Define routing plane for inter-fabric traffic • Routes tagged frames to the appropriate gateway for forwarding • Routing policy applies to tagged frames within a fabric or the inter-fabric network. Page 12

  13. Gateway Function • Handles all Inter-fabric Frame Traffic • Supports inter-fabric access by non-extended N_Ports • Maps extended N_Port addresses on remote fabrics to 24-bit addresses on local fabric. Page 13

  14. Gateway Function Local Fabric Traffic Inter-fabric Traffic Untagged Frames Frame Mapping function Intra-fabric Tagged Frames Inter-fabric Tagged Frames Inter-fabric Tagged Frames Page 14

  15. Charter for WG consideration: • vSANs and other extended fabric implementations should be derivable from a single architecture incorporating: • Common addressing and frame format • Common routing protocol Page 15

More Related