vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-55-storage-guide

Configuring Fibre Channel over5EthernetTo access Fibre Channel storage, an ESXi host can use the Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) protocol.The FCoE protocol encapsulates Fibre Channel frames into Ethernet frames. As a result, your host does notneed special Fibre Channel links to connect to Fibre Channel storage, but can use 10Gbit lossless Ethernet todeliver Fibre Channel traffic.This chapter includes the following topics:• “Fibre Channel over Ethernet Adapters,” on page 45• “Configuration Guidelines for Software FCoE,” on page 46• “Set Up Networking for Software FCoE in the vSphere Web Client,” on page 46• “Add Software FCoE Adapters in the vSphere Web Client,” on page 47Fibre Channel over Ethernet AdaptersTo use Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), you need to install FCoE adapters on your host.The adapters that VMware supports generally fall into two categories, hardware FCoE adapters andsoftware FCoE adapters that use the native FCoE stack in ESXi.Hardware FCoE AdaptersThis category includes completely offloaded specialized Converged Network Adapters (CNAs) that containnetwork and Fibre Channel functionalities on the same card.When such adapter is installed, your host detects and can use both CNA components. In the client, thenetworking component appears as a standard network adapter (vmnic) and the Fibre Channel componentas a FCoE adapter (vmhba). You do not need to configure the hardware FCoE adapter to be able to use it.Software FCoE AdaptersA software FCoE adapter uses the native FCoE protocol stack in ESXi for the protocol processing. Thesoftware FCoE adapter is used with a NIC that offers Data Center Bridging (DCB) and I/O offloadcapabilities. Intel X520 is an example of such NIC. For information on NICs supporting software FCoE, seethe vSphere Compatibility Guide.For the software FCoE adapter, you must properly configure networking and then activate the adapter.NOTE The number of software FCoE adapters you activate corresponds to the number of physical NICports. ESXi supports a maximum of four software FCoE adapters on one host.VMware, Inc. 45