Aren Fibre Channel networks inherently more stable than IP networks (e.g., the Internet)?
Whether using Fibre Channel or IP for SANs, someone has to design the network, insure integrity of links, allocate and monitor bandwidth utilization, etc., depending on the upper layer application being run. I’ve seen some very poorly designed Fibre Channel SANs that suffer excessive retransmission due to inferior components, improper sizing, or simple ignorance of the technology. Having the ability to transport block storage data over IP doesn’t mean that people should expect to throw their mission-critical storage data onto any IP link or onto the Internet. Basic network design rules still apply. For local applications, Fibre Channel and Gigabit Ethernet share the same base technology and both have extremely low bit error rates (typically 10-12 or better). For properly designed IP SANs, the customer has several choices for deployment. One solution could be to simply devote an entire IP network infrastructure to storage, replicating what Fibre Channel does in terms of physical separat
