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How has Fibre Channel Evolved?

Written by Waits Sharpe | Jan 5, 2022 8:03:41 PM

Fibre Channel, also known as FC, refers to a system of high-speed data transfer between data centers, computer servers, and switches. Currently FC can transfer data at rates of 128 Gbps(Gigabytes per second). Fibre channel is widely used in most high-end servers and storage's including Fibre Channel over Ethernet. Using an ethernet network, FC can provide data transfer speeds at roughly 10 Gbps and greater. To understand how where Fibre channel technology is now it is important to look at how it has evolved since it's inception.

1G Fibre Channel

The first version of Fibre Channel was-released in 1997. In its original form 1G Fibre channel technology was able to transfer data at 200 MBps. This form of Fibre Channel was used into the 2000's.

2G Fibre Channel

2g FC was released in 2001 and from there was considered the standard in data transfer technology. 2G was able to double the transfer speed of 1G and offer a transfer speed of 400 MBps.

4G Fibre Channel

4G Fibre Channel was implemented in 2004 worldwide and once again doubled the output of the previous generation. 4G FC was able to transfer data at up to 800 MBps.

8G Fibre Channel

8G was released just one year after 4G FC and boasted the best throughput yet. 8G was able to transfer at 1600 MBps. 4G and 8G are still reliable and used today in some servers and SAN storage's.

10G Fibre Channel

10G Fibre channel was made specifically for FCoE/ Fibre Channel over Ethernet. It was able to utilize 10 Gbps ethernet networks and is almost exclusively used in FCoe.

16G Fibre Channel

16G Fibre channel was released in 2011 and is still considered the standard today. Most SAN and servers still utilize 16G FC technology as it has a throughput of 3200 MBps(Megabits per seconds).

32G Fibre Channel

32G Fibre Channel was released in 2016 alongside 128G FC to integrate with the invention of the solid state drive(SSD). 32G FC has the ability to provide 6400 MBps while 128G FC has the capability to 25600 MBps. Both of these versions are the industry standard in secure data transfer.

Fibre Channel has evolved countless times over the years and as technology advances CorpInfoTech is ready to secure your business through enterprise technology and techniques.

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