In this first part of this face-off on FCoE network convergence, storage and networking expert Stuart Miniman says 10 GbE and data center bridging are making it possible to implement FCoE now. Most will start with FCoE in the edge but soon move into the rack. 

CIOs have a huge challenge in the face of explosive growth in data and applications: They must control not only the cost of IT infrastructure, but also deal with diminishing power and space availability. What does that mean for IT shops? It means the need to look at fundamental architectural changes, including converged networks and storage. Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) is finally ready to meet that challenge—first at the edge but very soon in the rack.

The IT community has worked for decades to deliver a single network for all infrastructures, but specific application requirements have spawned the development and adoption of multiple networks, including Ethernet for general networking, Fibre Channel (FC) as the primary storage network and InfiniBand for low latency and high-performance computing (HPC) environments.