Above the Network Layer

So a host of copper-compatible 10-Gbit/s HBAs is hitting the streets. (See 10GBase-T Adapters Debut.) QLogic will OEM Alacritech technology to create HBAs with 10-Gbit/s TOEs for multivendor servers. (See QLogic Licenses Alacritech.) And IBM says new blades will open a world of 10-Gbit/s to the masses. (See Will Blades Cut Path for 10-Gig?)

Does this mean 10-Gbit/s is finally here? More importantly, is it ready to kick Fibre Channel's posterior?

The answer to the first question is definitely "Yes!" To the second, a resounding "No!" While there's evidence pointing to more widespread adoption of high-speed Ethernet-based interconnections in data centers, there is little or no evidence that it's being used as a replacement for FC.

Instead, customers don't seem to care whether Ethernet or Fibre Channel rules, so long as they get the virtualization, clustering, and other upper-layer functions they require.

Ask Jon Geibel and Jack Brooks of Walt Disney Feature Animation, the firm that produced the digital film Meet the Robinsons for its upcoming March debut. (See Disney.) In creating a tiered storage environment to cope with their latest movie, the Disney folk were intent on improving I/O performance and increasing CPU usage. They did so over a 2-Gbit/s Fibre Channel network, which they're not into changing.