Research on networked storage technology

1 IP Technology Introduction

IP storage involves a range of technologies that enable block-level storage data to be transmitted over an ip-based network, which has two technologies to clarify: the use of IP technology and block-level storage. Block-level storage in the network is not a new technology, today's storage area Network San even if the use of Fibre Channel FC technology industry is still the case. However, the new IP storage protocol allows multiple Sans to be built over IP, such as Ethernet, and fully interconnected. Universal Internet File System CIFS and Network File system NFS sends file-level requests to the server that owns the file systems, which respond to the file server or network storage NAS devices and send them to hosts on the network.

2 IP storage adapts to growing network requirements

Today, IP has become a solid and important universal network protocol, and LP storage is naturally the technology that best adapts to the growing demand for networked storage.

2. 1 Growing networked storage

International Data Association IDC expects storage capacity to grow by 85% a year after 2008, an increase that shows that important data is growing, and managing storage resources is getting harder. As a result, companies are working to develop a SAN-based networked storage system for storing, accessing, protecting, and managing critical business data. In fact, IDC predicts that by 2009, 92% of the world's storage will be networked.

2. 2 IP is already applied in the network protocol and other network protocols, in the global Fanwei key business applications, IP has been more widely recognized, in the Ethernet environment, LP technology is also more economical and practical. Thanks to the wide application of IP technology and its low price, many information experts are committed to the application of IP technology, so that the development of IP technology has a broader and more solid foundation. This quality service system of IP, link priority technology and security mechanism promote the rapid development of its technology and the expansion of its development.

2. 3 IP Storage is the next phase of IP technology in the early development of IP technology, much is the IP architecture in all things, like Ethernet, Token ring, ATM, and today's video, voice, and block-level storage technology are based on IP transmission, forming all the framework in the IP On the situation.

3 standard procedures for IP storage

The current IETF developed three kinds of IP storage compression protocols: ISCSL, TCP/ip-based Fibre Channel FCIP and Internet Fibre Channel protocol IFCP.

3. 1 iSCSI Transmission of SCSI instructions via LP in the future iSCSI provides the necessary mapping to transmit SCSI instructions via IP as if today's fibre channel can transmit SCSI commands. iSCSI is designed for end-to-end connectivity of hosts to storage devices, similar to Fibre Channel SAN architectures, and iSCSI technology includes communication between host and compatible storage devices via IP switches. The drive can still use a real SCSI drive, because iSCSI is not the same as today's hard disk connection technology.

3. 2 FCIP Fibre Channel SAN environments as iSCSI protocols compress SCSI directives into IP packets, the FCIP protocol compresses Fibre channel directives into IP packets, and the FCIP protocol allows separate SAN environments to be interconnected via IP networks. With Standard FC addressing for each SAN, an IP tunnel or gateway is established between the endpoints of the FCIP, and once the tunnel is established, the extended FC device is considered a standard FC device and is FC addressable. A typical application is to connect two or more FC switches on a FCIP endpoint over a standard IP network, which is combined with a previous San fibre loop via an internal switching link.

3. 3 IFCP has different addressing modes in the latest IP storage protocol, IFCP between the two protocols described earlier, like Fcip, IFCP FC frame compression, using the Universal FC compression format, through the IP architecture for transmission, and the first two protocols of the main difference in addressing mode. The FCIP protocol establishes a point-to-point tunnel between two sans over Ethernet, forming a unified SAN environment. Corresponding to this is the IFCP between FC and IP gateway to the gateway connection is FC frames can be routed to the correct destination address. Unlike the FCIP protocol addressing approach, the current IFCP addressing mode is that it allows each interconnected san to have a separate namespace.