Fibre Channel

INTRODUCTION

IT infrastructure is nothing without storage. Stable performance of applications, VMs, and services can only be assured with fast and secure access to proper storage systems. Aside from that, business continuity depends on IT infrastructure uptime figures. When it comes to storage, a lot of businesses have Fibre Channel-based SANs installed in their infrastructure nowadays. Unfortunately, having a single SAN means having a single point of failure (SPOF) which means running applications under risk.

PROBLEM

Storage with a Fibre Channel (FC) backend is quite common. However, if a company wants highly available storage, it needs to invest in FC-based hardware or in new infrastructure to accommodate modern protocols, like iSCSI, NVMe-oF, and iSER. The High Availability requirement is further exacerbated by the need for applications and VMs to be able to run 24/7/365. Hence, storage must be able to handle failures. There is also the issue of scaling. FC-based infrastructure will require new compute nodes to have FC HBAs and the ability to connect with existing infrastructure via FC switches. More unnecessary expenses.

 Traditional Fibre Channel Storage Infrastructure Complication

SOLUTION

StarWind VSAN uses active-active storage replication to bring High Availability to your existing Fibre Channel infrastructure. The infrastructure remains the same but receives the ability to provide shared storage for clients safely while StarWind exercises synchronous replication. This way, storage can easily handle failures and still provide necessary connectivity. Applications and VMs can now experience 24/7/365 uptime. VSAN also upholds all modern industry-standard storage protocols, bringing unrestricted, flexible scalability. Enjoy High Availability on existing infrastructure and scale freely when needed.

StarWind VSAN Replication for Fibre Channel Storage

CONCLUSION

StarWind VSAN introduces the ability to share Highly Available storage for applications and VMs using regular Fibre Channel. It also liberates from being chained to Fibre Channel-based hardware when it comes to scaling. As a result, you can have Highly Available shared storage on existing infrastructure right now and, when the need in scaling arises, you can opt for any components that fit your taste and budget.