FMS: Fibre Channel Industry Association Showcases FC and FC-NVMe Technology

Ahead of the first in-person FMS since 2019, the Fibre Channel Industry Association (FCIA) was demonstrating why FC is the go-to transport for business and mission critical applications at this year’s show as adoption continues to grow.

FCIA roadmap

“We’re excited to return to the show floor in Santa Clara this year, not least because we’ll be able to perform a physical demonstration of the strength of FC,” said Chris Lyon, chairman. “This year’s event will be an ideal opportunity for attendees to learn more about the latest developments in FC and see what this technology can deliver in their infrastructure.“

The FCIA was attending this year’s FMS at a time when FC adoption shows strong growth.

“Revenue for the total FC SAN market (FC switches + FC adapters) grew for the 4th consecutive quarter in 1Q22, up 11% Y/Y to $613 million on 6% higher port shipments of 1.82 million,” according to Quillin Research’s 1Q022 SAN Report.

Demonstrating Next Gen FC Advancements
At FMS, the FCIA is conducting a public demonstration highlighting the latest multi-vendor FC technologies in an end-to-end fabric utilizing NVMe-oF (FC-NVMe) running over FC concurrently with legacy FCP/SCSI. 

The live exhibit showcased how end points participate with FCs’ new standards-based Fabric Notification (FPIN) technology that allows all elements of the SAN to pass critical link information among the peers enabling a self-optimizing fabric that mitigates congestion and improves link integrity determination. For the first time, the FCIA demonstration highlights FC’s Gen 7 64Gb/s FC speed, capable of 12,800MB/s full-duplex performance.

To showcase interoperability, this year’s demo featured equipment from FCIA members, including Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Broadcom, Teledyne LeCroy, Cisco, SANBlaze, Marvell and Amphenol.