Fibre Channel Roadmap

Here are the roadmaps for FC by the Fibre Channel Industry Association.

FC used throughout all applications for FC infrastructure and devices, including edge and ISL interconnects. Each speed maintains backward compatibility at least two previous generations
(I.e., 8GFC backward compatible to 4GFC and 2GFC)
* Line Rate: All FC speeds are single-lane serial stream
‡ Dates: Future dates estimated

ISLs are used for non-edge, core connections, and other high speed applications demanding maximum bandwidth. Except for 100GFC (which follow Ethernet)
† Equivalent Line Rate: Rates listed are equivalent data rates for serial stream methodologies.
‡ Some solutions are Pre-Standard Solutions: There are several methods used in the industry to aggregate and/or ‘trunk’ 2 or more ports and/or data stream lines to achieve the core bandwidth necessary for the application. Some solutions follow Ethernet standards and compatibility guidelines.

FCoE tunnels FC through Ethernet. For compatibility all 10GFCoE FCFs and CNAs are expected to use SFP+ devices, allowing the use of all standard and non standard optical technologies and additionally allowing the use of direct connect cables using the SFP+ electrical interface.  FCoE ports otherwise follow Ethernet standards and compatibility guidelines.
† Equivalent Line Rate: Rates listed are equivalent data rates for serial stream methodologies.
* It is expected that 40GFCoE and 100GFCoE based on 2010 standards will be used exclusively for Inter-Switch Link cores, thereby maintaining 10GFCoE as the predominant FCoE edge connection