But SNIA spokespeople say they plan other plugfests to promote the other two IETF specs, Fibre Channel over IP (FCIP) and iFCP (Internet Fibre Channel Storage). Indeed, an FCIP test is tentatively scheduled to coincide with the meeting of the Fibre Channel Industry Association (FCIA) later this month.
Some vendors, such as Nishan Systems and Pirus, plan to participate in all of the festing and testing. "Our customers tell us these specs are complementary," says Pirus's Merhar. "They may use FCIP to link two Fibre Channel segments together, and iSCSI for remote SAN connectivity."
For its part, Nishan says it's hedging its bets. In speaking of last week's establishment of SNIA's FCIP subgroup (see SNIA's FCIP Group Debuts), spokespeople say they favor iFCP but are willing to support all three emerging IP SAN protocols. That should enable Nishan Systems to market its wares as multiprotocol SAN solutions, they say.
It remains to be seen just where all of this testing is going. Traditionally, interoperability troubles have plagued the storage networking industry. The SNIA is by its own admission a marketing group, not a standards body capable of effecting real change. Only time will tell whether its influence reflects a solid move in a new direction.
- Mary Jander, Senior Editor, Light Reading
http://www.lightreading.com
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