Fibre Channel over Ethernet
First Claim
1. A network device, comprising:
- a plurality of FC ports configured for communication with a Fibre Channel (“
FC”
) network;
a plurality of Ethernet ports configured for communication with an Ethernet network; and
a plurality of Data Center Ethernet (“
DCE”
) ports, an individual DCE port in communication with another DCE port over a physical link that is configured as a plurality of virtual lanes, where each of the plurality of virtual lanes is dynamically assigned as either a drop lane or a no-drop lane with at least one virtual lane assigned as a drop lane while at least one other virtual lane is assigned as a no-drop lane.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides methods and devices for implementing a Low Latency Ethernet (“LLE”) solution, also referred to herein as a Data Center Ethernet (“DCE”) solution, which simplifies the connectivity of data centers and provides a high bandwidth, low latency network for carrying Ethernet and storage traffic. Some aspects of the invention involve transforming FC frames into a format suitable for transport on an Ethernet. Some preferred implementations of the invention implement multiple virtual lanes (“VLs”) in a single physical connection of a data center or similar network. Some VLs are “drop” VLs, with Ethernet-like behavior, and others are “no-drop” lanes with FC-like behavior. Some preferred implementations of the invention provide guaranteed bandwidth based on credits and VL. Active buffer management allows for both high reliability and low latency while using small frame buffers. Preferably, the rules for active buffer management are different for drop and no drop VLs.
206 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A network device, comprising:
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a plurality of FC ports configured for communication with a Fibre Channel (“
FC”
) network;a plurality of Ethernet ports configured for communication with an Ethernet network; and a plurality of Data Center Ethernet (“
DCE”
) ports, an individual DCE port in communication with another DCE port over a physical link that is configured as a plurality of virtual lanes, where each of the plurality of virtual lanes is dynamically assigned as either a drop lane or a no-drop lane with at least one virtual lane assigned as a drop lane while at least one other virtual lane is assigned as a no-drop lane. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method, comprising:
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logically partitioning traffic by a network device on a physical link of a plurality of physical links into a plurality of virtual lanes, wherein each of the plurality of virtual lanes is dynamically assigned as a drop lane or a no-drop lane with at least one virtual lane assigned as a drop lane while at least one other virtual lane is assigned as a no-drop lane; applying a first set of rules to first traffic on a first virtual lane; and applying a second set of rules to second traffic on a second virtual lane. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An apparatus, comprising:
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means for logically partitioning traffic on a physical link of a plurality of physical links into a plurality of virtual lanes, wherein each of the plurality of virtual lanes is dynamically assigned as a drop lane or a no-drop lane with at least one virtual lane assigned as a drop lane while at least one other virtual lane is assigned as a no-drop lane; means for applying a first set of rules to first traffic on a first virtual lane; and means for applying a second set of rules to second traffic on a second virtual lane. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification