FC/IP vs. iSCSI

[csapuntz@cisco.com]

FC/IP is NOT an alternative to iSCSI for most applications.

Unfortunately, making a protocol that works well in complex networks
is not as simple as just putting stuff into IP packets. IP packet
headers are not magical pixie dust that suddenly make higher-layer
protocol issues go away.

The FibreChannel stack today has the following deficiencies which do
not disappear when tunneling over IP:
	- FCP has no congestion control
	- FCP deals poorly with packet loss
	- Target naming is done with either 24-bit port IDs or 64-bit WWNs,
	   neither of which scale to Internet size
	- No secure login

Of course, you could address all the deficiencies by fixing FCP. But
by the time you do that, I maintain you will most likely end up with
something in the same order of complexity as iSCSI/TCP/IP.

-Costa