Once the decision to upgrade has been made, the transition can take place quickly.
Products are already being released based on 4 Gb/s Fibre Channel and as storage
products continue to evolve, many will be designed based on 4 Gb/s standards.
Storage vendors know that customers rarely replace their entire infrastructure at once. As
a result, 4 Gb/s may be introduced into customer environments in phases until 4 Gb/s
Fibre Channel has a larger presence in the storage network than 2 Gb/s.
Additional factors driving the decision to purchase 4 Gb/s Fibre Channel technology
today
A few years ago, products were rotated out of production every three years. Today,
companies are extending the life of these products to four years or more. This means that
products purchased in 2005 may still be in production when 4 Gb/s Fibre Channel is the
norm. Does it make sense to purchase a new product that will be “outdated” before its
production life is up?
Purchasing a product based on 4 Gb/s Fibre Channel technology can provide the best of
both worlds. 4 Gb/s Fibre Channel’s backwards compatibility enables it to be integrated
into existing 1 Gb/s and 2 Gb/s infrastructures. This allows users to immediately benefit
from any improved functionality in their new 4 Gb/s Fibre Channel products, helps
provide them with investment protection of their current environments, and provide
future protection when their infrastructure eventually makes the transition to 4 Gb/s.
The value proposition for end-users is simple – equal cost; up to twice the throughput;
helps protect investment; and less SAN infrastructure (fewer switches with fewer ports,
fewer host bus adapters) helps increase SAN reliability, availability and serviceability
(RAS).
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