FCOE or Fiber channel over ethernet is one of the newest technology which was introduced as convergence for ethernet and Fiber traffic. What it actually means in simpler words that hosts or servers are using some special type of adapters or Modules ( in Blade center world ) which is capable of carrying ethernet and FC traffic on same set of physical ports.
The Host OS is usually running some device driver for these special adapters which present this adapter as two virtual adapters. One virtual adapter is for ethernet traffic while other virtual adapters is for FC traffic.
Now these FCOE adapters usually connect to special kind of Ethernet Switches with FCOE ports . Example would be Cisco 5000 series switches.
The Cisco switches can then be configured in NPV or Switch mode where VLAN to VSAN mappings allow FC traffic to flow towards SAN switches ( like Cisco MDS or Brocade switches). Connections between Ethernet and FC switches can be either FCOE or FC , although FC connections are more preferred as having FCOE connections between ethernet and FC switches will result in FCOE hops which might impact on performance if not properly sized.
The Host OS is usually running some device driver for these special adapters which present this adapter as two virtual adapters. One virtual adapter is for ethernet traffic while other virtual adapters is for FC traffic.
Now these FCOE adapters usually connect to special kind of Ethernet Switches with FCOE ports . Example would be Cisco 5000 series switches.
The Cisco switches can then be configured in NPV or Switch mode where VLAN to VSAN mappings allow FC traffic to flow towards SAN switches ( like Cisco MDS or Brocade switches). Connections between Ethernet and FC switches can be either FCOE or FC , although FC connections are more preferred as having FCOE connections between ethernet and FC switches will result in FCOE hops which might impact on performance if not properly sized.
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