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| FIP (Fibre Channel over Ethernet Initialization Protocol) | |
|---|---|
| Name | FIP (Fibre Channel over Ethernet Initialization Protocol) |
| Abbreviation | FIP |
| Type | Networking protocol |
| Developer | IEEE, T11, Broadcom, Cisco, Brocade |
| Initial release | 2009 |
| Status | Obsolete in some deployments |
FIP (Fibre Channel over Ethernet Initialization Protocol) is a protocol used to initialize and manage Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) connectivity across converged Ethernet infrastructures. It provides discovery, virtual link identification, and login facilitation between end-host adapters and FCoE forwarders, enabling storage area network integration over data center Ethernet fabrics. FIP operates alongside standards bodies and vendors to map Fibre Channel constructs onto Ethernet, coordinating with switch features and host adapters to present Fibre Channel services to servers and storage arrays.
FIP coordinates FCoE endpoint discovery and virtual link establishment across Ethernet fabrics defined by standards bodies such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, T11 Technical Committee, and manufacturers including Broadcom Limited, Cisco Systems, Brocade Communications Systems, Intel Corporation, and Emulex Corporation. It functions within converged infrastructure stacks alongside protocols and technologies from VMware, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Red Hat, Inc., and Canonical Ltd. deployments. FIP manages discovery messages, virtualization constructs, and keepalives while interworking with switch features originating from vendors like Arista Networks, Juniper Networks, Huawei Technologies, and Dell Technologies. The protocol's operation intersects with other standards and projects from organizations such as The Open Group, Storage Networking Industry Association, and OpenStack Foundation for data center orchestration.
FIP emerged during industry efforts to converge storage and data networks in the 2000s, with early work driven by stakeholders including Broadcom Limited, Cisco Systems, Brocade Communications Systems, Emulex Corporation, QLogic Corporation, Intel Corporation, and dataset-driven initiatives at IBM. Standardization discussions occurred in venues such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers meetings, T11 Technical Committee working groups, and interoperability events hosted by SNIA and other consortia. The protocol's specification was published alongside drafts and errata influenced by implementations from Cisco Systems, Broadcom Limited, and Brocade Communications Systems, and adoption was affected by competing approaches from vendors like Juniper Networks and open source projects in communities such as OpenStack Foundation and Linux Foundation. Over time, shifts in data center architecture led companies including VMware, Inc. and hyperscalers like Google LLC and Amazon.com, Inc. to prioritize alternatives, modifying the protocol's deployment footprint.
FIP operates at the Ethernet layer to provide functions analogous to Fibre Channel Fabric Login and discovery performed by entities such as Brocade Communications Systems SAN fabrics and Cisco Systems Nexus switches. Its architecture defines roles like FCoE Initialization Protocol entities within converged network adapters (CNAs) from Emulex Corporation and QLogic Corporation and FCoE Forwarders (FCoE-capable switches) from Arista Networks, Dell Technologies, and Huawei Technologies. FIP exchanges control frames to discover FCoE forwarders, to advertise virtual FC-IDs, and to negotiate VLAN-backed virtual links interoperable with capabilities provided by IEEE 802.1Q, IEEE 802.1AE, and other Ethernet standards maintained by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Operation involves state transitions influenced by implementations from Intel Corporation drivers, firmware in adapters from Broadcom Limited, and switch ASIC behaviors from vendors like Marvell Technology Group.
FIP defines control frame structures carried over Ethernet with EtherType values and subtype encodings specified in committee documents from T11 Technical Committee and influenced by Ethernet frame handling defined by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Message types include advertisement frames, discovery requests, discovery responses, virtual link creation and tear-down, and keepalive messages used by adapters from Emulex Corporation and QLogic Corporation and switches such as those from Cisco Systems and Arista Networks. Implementations must parse TLV-style payloads and fields consistent with firmware developed by Broadcom Limited, Intel Corporation, and Marvell Technology Group to identify attributes like FC-IDs, VLAN tags, and MAC addresses in coordination with standards referenced by IEEE 802.1Qaz and IEEE 802.1AE.
FIP's security model addresses spoofing, denial-of-service, and unauthorized discovery by leveraging Ethernet-level controls and switch-enforced policies supported by IEEE 802.1X port-based authentication, MACsec from IEEE 802.1AE, and VLAN segmentation specified by IEEE 802.1Q. Security considerations were analyzed by committees including T11 Technical Committee and debated among vendors such as Cisco Systems, Broadcom Limited, Brocade Communications Systems, and Juniper Networks. Implementations in CNAs from Emulex Corporation and QLogic Corporation integrate firmware checks and administrative configuration to limit discovery to authorized forwarders, while data center operators including Facebook, Inc. and Microsoft Corporation may layer host-based controls and orchestration via OpenStack Foundation and Kubernetes-driven policies. Authentication of management operations often relies on out-of-band mechanisms used in product ecosystems from Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and NetApp, Inc..
Interoperability testing involved consortium events with vendors such as Cisco Systems, Broadcom Limited, Brocade Communications Systems, Emulex Corporation, QLogic Corporation, Intel Corporation, and switch makers like Arista Networks and Juniper Networks. Open source drivers in the Linux Foundation kernel and initiatives in OpenStack Foundation allowed server platforms from Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Supermicro to interoperate with SAN arrays from NetApp, Inc. and EMC Corporation. Commercial products incorporated FIP-capable CNAs and switches, and testing labs run by organizations like SNIA and enterprises including Bank of America and Walmart Inc. evaluated cross-vendor behavior and failover characteristics. Vendor firmware differences in handling frame timers, VLAN assignment, and virtual link state machines influenced interoperability across platforms from Marvell Technology Group and Broadcom Limited.
FIP introduces control-plane traffic that must be scaled in large fabrics operated by hyperscalers such as Google LLC and Amazon.com, Inc., and enterprises like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase & Co.. Design considerations include convergence times influenced by timers in CNAs from Emulex Corporation and QLogic Corporation, multicast and unicast handling on switches from Cisco Systems and Arista Networks, and the impact on Quality of Service features defined by IEEE 802.1Qaz and implemented by vendors such as Huawei Technologies and Juniper Networks. Scalability planning assesses the number of virtual links, FC-ID density, and failure recovery behaviors relevant to storage arrays from NetApp, Inc., EMC Corporation, and Hitachi, Ltd. while considering data center orchestration from VMware, Inc. and Red Hat, Inc..
FIP-enabled FCoE was deployed in converged infrastructure solutions from Cisco Systems UCS, Dell Technologies converged racks, and reference architectures promoted by VMware, Inc. and NetApp, Inc.. Use cases included blade server integration in products from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, consolidation in enterprise data centers operated by Bank of America and Walmart Inc., and smaller deployments in cloud hosting by providers like OVHcloud and DigitalOcean. Over time, many hyperscalers and cloud providers including Google LLC and Amazon.com, Inc. favored IP-based storage approaches or VNFS and NVMe over Fabrics standards championed by organizations such as NVM Express, Inc. and IETF, changing the ecosystem and influencing where FIP remains in active use.
Category:Networking protocols