Fcip Overview; Using Fcip To Encapsulate Fc Packets - HP StorageWorks 6100 - Enterprise Virtual Array User Manual

FCIP overview

FCIP enables connectivity between geographically dispersed FC devices over an IP network. To deploy
FCIP, two mpx110 gateways are required. Each gateway is configured for FCIP and connected to a
fabric. The gateways are connected to each other through an IP network (LAN/WAN). For more
information, see
Local FC devices need no additional hardware or software to access remote FC devices using the
mpx110 deployed for FCIP.
Figure 1 FCIP overview
.

Using FCIP to encapsulate FC packets

With FCIP, gateways transport FC frames over an IP network. From the perspective of the local and
remote fabrics, the FC devices accessed through the gateways appear to be part of one unified fabric.
This effect is possible because FC traffic is carried over the IP network in such a way that the FC fabric
and all FC devices on the fabric are unaware of the presence of the IP network.
Once configured, FCIP instances on each gateway become active and establish their connectivity
through the IP network. The FC devices in the local fabric access the FC devices in the remote fabric
using FC frames. The FC frames are encapsulated in IP packets by the local gateway and then
transmitted to the remote gateway. The remote gateway strips the IP packet data and passes only the
FC frames to the remote FC devices.
The gateways deployed for FCIP are configured to use TCP, which uses standard TCP flow control
and error recovery algorithms.
14 Overview
Figure 1.