Getting started with storage: What are the differences between an optical fiber Nic and an Eni?

Storage entry: some differences between fiber optic Nic and HbA cards are that in the early SAN storage system, data transmission between servers and switches is performed through optical fibers, because the server is to transmit SCSI commands to the storage device, can not go through the common LAN network IP protocol, so you need to use FC transmission, so this SAN is called FC-SAN, in the later stage, the SAN encapsulated by the IP protocol can completely take the common LAN network, so it is called the IP-SAN, the most typical of which is the popular ISCSI. Both www.2cto.com and www.2cto.com require heavy packet reading operations on data blocks, therefore, a high-performance SAN system requires a dedicated Nic to be installed on the server for unpacking to reduce the burden on the processor, in addition to unpacking, it can also provide an optical interface (if an iSCSI HbA card is used to provide a common RJ45 Interface) for connecting to the corresponding switch. In addition, can you insert an HBA as a NIC physically? CI or PCI-E slot, so the use of this device is very similar to a network card, many people will confuse it with ordinary network card or ordinary fiber network card. Of course, some iSCSI HbA cards can be used as common network cards, but the price is very luxurious. The conventional definition of HBA is the I/O adapter that connects the host I/O bus and the computer memory system. According to this definition, like the video card is connected to the video bus and memory, the network card is connected to the network bus and memory, SCSI-FC card is connected to the SCSI or FC bus and memory, they should be considered as HBA. HBA cards have FC-HBA and iSCSI hba and other memory cards in the future, but HBA is usually used in SCSI. Adapter and NIC are used for FC, while NIC is also used for Ethernet and ring. In fact, Nic is a general term for a type of equipment that is often mentioned. It refers to the network connection line (twisted pair wires, optical fiber cables, coaxial cables, etc.) installed in the host) connect to a network switch (such as an Ethernet switch, FC switch, or ISCSI switch) or other network devices (such as storage devices, servers, and workstations) to form a network hardware device. So, does the name of the optical fiber Nic refer to the optical fiber port HbA card? In fact, the optical fiber network card is commonly referred to as the optical fiber channel network card. Due to different transmission protocols, NICs can be divided into three types: Ethernet NIC, FC Nic, and iSCSI Nic. Www.2cto.com • Ethernet Adapter: an Ethernet Adapter. The transmission protocol is IP. It is generally connected to an Ethernet switch through an optical fiber cable or twisted pair cable. Interfaces can be divided into optical ports and electrical ports. Optical interfaces are generally transmitted through optical fiber cables. The interface modules are SFP (Transfer Rate: 2 Gb/s) and GBIC (1 Gb/s), and the corresponding interfaces are SC, ST, and LC. Currently, the common electrical interfaces are RJ45, which are used to connect to twisted pair wires and interfaces connected to coaxial cables. However, these interfaces are rarely used. • Fc nic: it is also called an optical fiber Nic. It is also known as a fiber Channel HBA. The transmission protocol is an optical fiber channel protocol, which is generally connected to an optical fiber channel switch through an optical fiber cable. Interfaces can be divided into optical ports and electrical ports. Optical interfaces are generally transmitted through optical fiber cables. The interface modules are SFP (transfer rate of 2 Gb/s) and GBIC (1 Gb/s), and the corresponding interfaces are SC and LC. The electrical interface type is generally DB9 needle or HSSDC. • ISCSI network adapter: The iscsi hba is used to transmit the ISCSI protocol. The interface type is the same as that of the Ethernet Card. "Optical fiber network card" generally refers to the FC HbA card, which is inserted on the server and used for external storage. The ethernet card of the optical port is generally called "Optical Fiber Ethernet Card" and is also inserted on the server, however, it is an Ethernet switch with optical ports. Memory card: FC-HBA card (commonly known as: fiber network card), iSCSI-memory card (RJ45 Interface) Ethernet Card: fiber interface Ethernet Card (commonly known as: fiber Ethernet Card)