Emulex LP21000 User Manual

Deployment Guide: Network Convergence with
Emulex LP21000 CNA and VMware® ESX Server

How to deploy Converged Networking with VMware ESX
Server Using Emulex FCoE Technology

Table of Contents

Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 3

Drivers of Network Convergence ..................................................................................................... 3

Benefits of FCoE Enabled Network Convergence ........................................................................... 4

FCoE Technology Overview .............................................................................................................. 5

Introduction to Emulex LP21000 CNA ............................................................................................. 6

Converged Network Deployment models ........................................................................................ 7

Converged Networking with FCoE in an ESX Environment .......................................................... 7

CNA Instantiation Model in ESX ............................................................................................................................................ 8

Configuring the LP21000 as a Storage Adapter .................................................................................................................. 9

Configuring the LP21000 for Multipathing in ESX ............................................................................................................ 11

Configuring the LP21000 as a Network Adapter ............................................................................................................. 13

Configuring the LP21000 for NIC Teaming in ESX .......................................................................................................... 14

Scaling to Enterprise Manageability ...................................................................................................................................... 14

Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................... 16

2

Introduction

Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) technology enables convergence of storage and LAN networks in
enterprise data centers. The key benefits of FCoE include cost savings and improved operating efficiencies,
but the technology is new and deployment configurations are less well understood than proven Fibre
Channel solutions.

Server virtualization using VMware ESX enables consolidation of server resources by allowing multiple
virtual machines to exist on a single physical server. This level of consolidation increases the demand for I/O
bandwidth and the need for multiple I/O adapters. FCoE-based converged networking addresses the
requirement for increased bandwidth while significantly simplifying the I/O infrastructure.

This deployment guide presents information about network convergence using FCoE technology and also
provides an overview of how to realize the maximum benefits from network convergence using FCoE
technology in an ESX Server environment.

Drivers of Network Convergence

Enterprises rely on their computing infrastructure to provide a broad array of services. As enterprises
continue to scale their computing infrastructure to meet the demand for these services, they inherently face
an infrastructure sprawl fueled by the proliferation of servers, networks and storage. This infrastructure
growth typically results in increased capital expenses for equipment and operating expenses for power,
cooling and IT management, reducing the overall efficiency of operations.

In order to overcome these limitations, the industry is moving towards empowering data centers with
technologies that enable consolidation. Server virtualization and blade server technologies are helping
address the consolidation of physical servers and rising rack densities in the data center. A related trend
associated with server virtualization and blade server deployments is the expanded use of higher I/O
bandwidth and adoption of external storage which enable consolidation and mobility.

Since the late 1990s data centers have maintained two sets of networks – a Fibre Channel storage area
network (SAN) for storage I/O traffic and a local area network (LAN) for data networking traffic. With the
growing implementation of SANs, accelerated by the adoption of blade servers and server virtualization, the
penetration of SANs is expected to grow much higher.

While IT managers can continue to maintain two separate networks, in reality this increases overall costs by
multiplying the number of adapters, cables, and switch ports required to connect every server directly with
supporting LANs and SANs. Further, the resulting network sprawl hinders the flexibility and manageability of
the data center.

3

Figure 1: Key factors driving network convergence.

Network convergence, enabled by FCoE, helps address the network infrastructure sprawl while fully
complementing server consolidation efforts and improving the efficiency of the enterprise data center.

Benefits of FCoE Enabled Network Convergence

An FCoE enabled converged network provides the following key benefits to IT organizations:

• Lower total cost of ownership through infrastructure simplification

A converged network based on FCoE lowers the number of cables, switch ports and adapters
required to maintain both SAN and LAN connectivity. The reduction in the number of adapters
facilitates the use of smaller servers and the expanded offload to the adapter enables higher CPU
efficiency which reduces power and cooling costs.

• Consolidation while protecting existing investments

FCoE lets organizations phase the roll out of converged networks. FCoE–based network
convergence drives consolidation in new deployments without affecting the existing server and
storage infrastructure or the processes required to manage and support existing applications. For
example, the use of a common management framework across Fibre Channel and FCoE connected
servers protects existing investments in management tools and processes and lowers the long-term
operating cost of the data center.

4

• Increased IT efficiency and business agility

A converged network streamlines and eliminates repeated administrative tasks such as server and
network provisioning with a “wire once” deployment model. The converged network also improves
business agility letting data centers dynamically and rapidly respond to requests for new or expanded
services, new servers and new configurations. The converged network fully complements server
virtualization in addressing the on-demand requirements of the next generation data center where
applications and the infrastructure are provisioned on the fly.

• Seamless extension of Fibre Channel SANs in the data center

Fibre Channel is the predominant storage protocol deployed by enterprise data centers. With the
adoption of blade servers and server virtualization, there is an increased demand for Fibre Channel
SANs in these environments. FCoE addresses this requirement by leveraging 10Gb/s Ethernet and
extending proven Fibre Channel SAN benefits. The use of light-weight encapsulation for FCoE also
facilitates FCoE gateways that are less compute intensive and thus ensures high levels of storage
networking performance.

• Alignment with existing operating models and administrative domains

FCoE based converged networks gives IT architects the ability to design a data center architecture
that aligns with existing organization structure and operating models. This minimizes the need to
unify or significantly overhaul operating procedures used by storage and networking IT staff.

FCoE Technology Overview

FCoE is the industry standard that drives network convergence in the enterprise data center. The FCoE
technology leverages lossless Ethernet infrastructure to carry native Fibre Channel traffic over Ethernet.

Figure 2: FCoE Encapsulates complete Fibre Channel frames on to an

Ethernet frames

Leveraging 10Gb/s Ethernet to carry both the data networking and storage networking traffic enables
convergence in the data center networks and thus reduces the number of cables, switch ports and adapters,
which lowers the overall power and cooling requirements and the total cost of ownership.

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