How to Use Data Center Bridging in Your Network

Data Center Bridging (DCB) enhances Ethernet technology by enabling the convergence of various applications in data centers (such as Local Area Networks (LAN), Storage Area Networks (SAN), and advanced application High Performance Computing (HPC)) onto a single interconnect technology, by providing enhancements to existing 802.1 bridge specifications. Existing high-performance data centers typically comprise multiple application-specific networks that run on different link layer technologies, such as Fibre Channel for storage, InfiniBand for high-performance computing, and Ethernet for network management and LAN connectivity. Data Center Bridging enables 802.1 bridges to be used for the deployment of a converged network where all applications can be run over a single physical infrastructure.

The current Data Center Bridging implementation consists of:

The base control protocol utilized in Data Center Bridging is the Data Center Bridging Exchange (DCBX) protocol. DCBX can be used by a device: to detect peer device capabilities, to detect mis-configuration of a feature between the peers on a link, to perform configuration of DCB features on the link peer.

Enhanced Transmission Selection, Priority-based flow control, congestion notification, and Application Priority protocols utilize DCBX. DCBX uses LLDP to exchange attributes between two linked peers. LLDP is unidirectional and advertises connectivity and management information about the local station to adjacent stations on the same IEEE 802 LAN. DCBX state machines are invoked when the remote MIB changes and a DCBX TLV is present.