Link Aggregated FCoE Forwarding Engine
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional systems using Virtual Link Trunking (VLT) for Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) communications isolate FCoE devices into separate network fabrics, limiting end-to-end path level redundancy and underutilizing link aggregation infrastructure, as multiple FCoE Forwarder devices cannot handle FCoE traffic effectively, relying on Multi-Path Input/Output (MPIO) for redundancy and restricting link aggregation to non-FCoE traffic.
Innovation Solution
An Information Handling System (IHS) with a Fibre Channel Forwarding engine that manages FCoE data traffic through Link Aggregation Groups (LAGs) and Inter-Chassis Links (ICLs), assigning common and local MAC addresses to FCoE devices to enable seamless communication and fault tolerance, allowing FCoE traffic to be forwarded efficiently across the network.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple FCoE Forwarder devices are isolated into separate network fabrics with different FC-MAPs and VLANs, then each FCF device can independently handle FCoE traffic, but end-to-end path level redundancy is limited and link aggregation infrastructure is underutilized
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple FCoE Forwarder devices into a single virtual FCF device by assigning a common FC-MAP and VLAN ID across all FCFs in the link aggregation group. This allows FCoE traffic to be handled uniformly across all FCFs without isolation, enabling end-to-end path level redundancy and full utilization of link aggregation infrastructure while maintaining independent device operation through virtualization.
2Reliability
If FCoE is supported on individual FCF devices only, then FCoE traffic can be handled reliably, but link aggregation infrastructure is restricted to non-FCoE traffic and redundancy must be achieved using MPIO on host devices
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables link aggregation infrastructure to handle both FCoE and non-FCoE traffic uniformly by assigning a common FC-MAP and VLAN ID across all FCFs. This makes the link aggregation system universal, allowing it to provide redundancy for FCoE traffic directly without requiring separate MPIO mechanisms on host devices, while maintaining reliable FCoE handling through the virtualized FCF architecture.
3Ease of operation
If FCF devices act as independent Fibre Channel switches, then each device operates autonomously, but link fault tolerance provided by LAGs is unused and link aggregation is limited to non-FCoE traffic
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a virtualization layer that mediates between independent FCF devices and FCoE traffic. By assigning a common FC-MAP and VLAN ID, the virtualized FCF architecture allows independent physical devices to operate autonomously while presenting a unified virtual interface to FCoE traffic, enabling link fault tolerance and full utilization of link aggregation infrastructure without sacrificing device independence.
Data Source
AI summary
A link aggregated FCoE system includes a target device, a first FCF device coupled to the target device and a LAG, and a second FCF device coupled to the LAG and to the first FCF device by an ICL. The first and second FCF devices are each associated with a common FCF MAC address. The first FCF device receives, through the LAG, first FCoE data traffic directed to the common FCF MAC address and including a target device destination identifier and, in response, forwards the first FCoE data traffic to the target. The second FCF device receives, through the LAG, second FCoE data traffic directed to the common FCF MAC address and including the target device destination identifier and, in response, forwards the second FCoE data traffic to the first FCF device so that the first FCF device may forward the second FCoE data traffic to the target device.