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Native Replicaion vs FCIP Router Replication

Advantages of FCIP Router vs Array based Native Replication

Purpose built hardware for encapsulating FC into IP packets vs a general purpose

processor device defined by software.

Hardware based compression of streaming I/Os instead of discrete frames, gains higher
Compression Ratios.

WAN Optimized TCP protocol, removes any requirement for WAN Optimizers to
overcome unstable WAN connections.

IPSec encryption for encrypting the data leaving DC using Industry standard security
protocols.

Does not eat into the Storage I/O slots for replication purposes, leaving room for
scalability within storage to meet FC traffic demands.
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Purpose Built Hardware

FCIP Routers:
Purpose-built hardware and firmware offers the benefit of extreme performance and
ultralow latency. The Brocade FCIP routers has such a design and runs Brocade Fabric OS to
provide flexibility of code updates and new features. The FPGA performs line-rate compression
and line-rate IP security (IPsec) (AES 256), and other high-speed data transmission functions.

Native Replication:
A general-purpose processor-based device that is defined by the software it runs.

Compression

FCIP Routers:
Compresses a stream of I/O instead of dicrete frames, and transported by using WAN
Optimized TCP (WO-TCP). 16 streams will have a single header reduces the header by
16:1 gaining higher compression ratios.

Native Replication:
Arrays use the underpinnings of iSCSI for their replication transport. Depending on
compression, array-based native IP replication can be much less efficient at producing IP
packets than the supported Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU). The arrays are doing
one iSCSI frame at a time, and IP compression may reduce that frame below the MTU
which does not reduce the overhead for headers and provides lesser compression
ratios.
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WAN-Optimization

FCIP Routers:
Brocade has developed an aggressive TCP stack called WAN-Optimized TCP (WO-TCP).
WO-TCP is a transport that cannot be outperformed by competing WAN optimization
products. WO-TCP receive negligible benefit from WAN optimization when using the
Brocade FCIP Routers.

Native Replication:
WAN-Optimization will be required with Native array-based replication to overcome
when WAN latency exceeds 100 ms , poor link quality, excessive jitters etc.

Security

FCIP Routers:
IPsec operates at line-rate and introduces only a couple of microseconds (s) of added
latency. IPsec is part of circuit formation and protects data from virtually every type of
attack, including sniffers, data modification, identity spoofing, man-in-the-middle, and
denial of service. IPsec requires no additional licenses or costs and is very simple to
configure.

Native Replication:
Encryption only for internal data within the storage. Data leaving the data center for
replication using private WAN connections are not encrypted.
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Hardware Front-End I/O Ports

FCIP Routers based replication:

No additional I/O modules are required which gives the flexibility to scale Front-End ports
within the storage for only host connectivity purposes.

Native Replication:
Storages with Native replication use iSCSI I/O modules to act as forwarders for transmitting
data from DC to DR. This limits the scalability of the storage for FC traffic as one slot will be
dedicated for replication traffic. With the so called Unified features, another slot will be
used up for file traffic.

Only four slots per controller for I/O

Please refer below images: modules, 1 for SRDF and 1 for eNAS
leaves only two slots (8-Ports) for FC
traffic compared to the 32 proposed in
DS8884