Fibre Channel (FC) and Small Computer System Interface over IP (iSCSI), the two primary methods of storage networking, allows storage and servers to communicate with one another. While the two have similar performance capabilities when it comes down to storage handling, there are significant other differences between them. Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) was developed by Cisco as a lossless Ethernet, where frames are never dropped. It also does not use TCP or IP. iSCSI is an older technology developed by the IETF, based on IP protocol stacks, which unlike FCoE, uses TCP to recover lost packets. Although, FCoE was not developed to replace iSCSI, as iSCSI has many uses that FCoE simply cannot handle, such as handling smaller, remote offices.
FCoE Sans are much cheaper than ISCSI as well, further making them more ideal for smaller companies. iSCSI is excellent though if you can pay. Instead of developing and operating two networks, an Ethernet LAN for communication and Fibre channel San for storage, an organization can instead use its existing Ethernet for both LAN and San. When it comes down to which is best, it all depends on what you are using it for. The war between these two will always rage on, as it is a popular debate among IT professionals. However, instead of merely randomly picking a side, it is encouraged to always perform the proper research to decide which is right for you.
Reference:
Prigge, Matt. (2010). Fibre Channel vs. iSCSI: The war continues. Retrieved from https://www.infoworld.com/article/2627603/infrastructure-storage/fibre-channel-vs–iscsi–the-war-continues.html.
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