When It Comes To Network Protocols, There Is A Wide Variety Of Protocols, Each Designed For Specific Applications.

However, in the discussion of information storage, some protocols are more important than similar examples.

This article will teach us about some of this field’s most widely used and essential protocols.

Network storage protocols enable applications, servers, and other systems to store information seamlessly across the network and communicate with each other. So that the plans will have access to the directly connected storage space most easily. In addition, the protocols above facilitate file sharing for users and organizations to support more storage capacities.

A storage network protocol provides a standard set of rules that define how data is transferred between devices. Network-attached storage ( NAS ) and storage area networks (SAN) rely on storage protocols to facilitate data communication. Cloud storage platforms also use protocols to access their data repositories.

However, seven of these protocols are more common and critical in the discussion of network storage, which we will learn about later.

Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI)

ISCSI is a transport layer protocol that provides block-oriented access to storage devices to access storage space via the TCP/IP protocol. This protocol works on top of the TCP protocol and defines how SCSI packets are transmitted over LANs, WANs, or the Internet. ISCSI allows network professionals to set up a shared storage network like a SAN.

Organizations often turn to the iSCSI protocol because it uses standard Ethernet technologies and is cheaper and easier to use than Fiber Channels. ISCSI can transfer data at high speed over long distances and can support multipath technologies, jumbo framing, data center bridging (DCB), and other related technologies. It should be noted that iSCSI-based SAN implementations now support data transfer rates up to 25 Gbps Ethernet, although we are not far from reaching 50 Gbps and 100 Gbps transfer rates.

Fiber Channel

Fiber Channel is a high-speed technology in the network world that transmits raw block data without loss, regularly, and without delay. This technology defines multiple communication layers to send SCSI commands and data packets using Fiber Channel Protocol (FCP). This protocol provides point-to-point, switch, and ring interfaces and can transfer data to 128 Gbps. In addition to SCSI, the Fiber Channel protocol can interact with the IP and other protocols.

Fiber Channel was developed to support SANs and address the shortcomings of SCSI and High-Performance Parallel Interface (HIPPI). Fiber Channel is a reliable and scalable protocol and interface with high throughput and low latency, which makes it a suitable option for shared network storage. Not harmful to know the above protocol, when used with optical fiber, can connect devices up to 10 kilometers apart.

However, Fiber Channel-based networks can have a complex architecture and require specialized equipment such as sensor switches, CAN adapters, HBAs, and unique ports.

Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)

FCoE protocol creates a communication mechanism based on fiber channels and can be implemented through Ethernet directly. This protocol transmits Fiber Channel frames in Ethernet frames, using the Ethernet fabric with no data loss rate and preserving the frame format. FCoE allows LAN and SAN traffic to share the same physical network but remains separate. FCoE can support the same data rates as high-speed Ethernet. Compatible with standard Ethernet cards, switches, cables, and components capable of supporting FCoE.

With FCoE, an organization can use a single cabling mechanism in the data center, which helps simplify management and reduce costs compared to conventional Fiber Channels. In addition, FCoE retains some of the advantages of low latency and traffic management of traditional Fiber channels and can use DCB to eliminate packet loss rates during queuing. However, FCoE does not work on routed networks such as Fiber channels.

Network File System

A network file system is a distributed file system and a protocol for accessing and sharing files between devices on a local network. This system and its protocol are usually used to support NAS. NFS is a low-cost network file-sharing option that enables remote and on-premises employees to access, store, and update files. To be more precise, it provides DAS-like functionality.

NFS uses an RPC protocol called Remote Procedure Call to route requests between clients and servers. This protocol is mainly used in Linux environments, although Windows operating systems also support it. Although devices on the network must support NFS, they do not need to understand the details of the network. In this context, RPCs are known as insecure protocols, so NFS should only be deployed on trusted networks and behind firewalls.

Block Message Server/Shared Internet File System (SMB/CIFS)

SMB is a client-server communication protocol that enables users and applications to access storage and other network resources on a remote server. SMB works at the application layer and can run on TCP/IP networks. Since the above protocol is a request-response protocol, it sends many messages between the client and the server to establish a connection. Like NFS, the above protocol is mainly used in interaction with storage ( NAS ).

Since the above protocol was first published, various versions of SMB have been implemented. One of the first versions was CIFS. This protocol, which Microsoft introduced, was known as a chat protocol with various bugs and was associated with many problems, such as high latency. However, operating systems such as Windows, Linux, and Unix used it extensively. It should be noted that later versions of SMB CIFS were gradually deprecated. However, the terms SMB and CIFS are often used interchangeably or, in most cases, as SMB/CIFS. However, CIFS is only a single implementation of SMB.

Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)

Typically, HTTP is not considered a storage protocol. Still, it supports access to cloud storage services such as Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, and Microsoft Azure, typically through RESTful APIs and standard HTTP/HTTPS requests. Of course, Amazon S3 has become the de facto standard for object-oriented cloud storage and is now supported by storage systems like NAS, reinforcing HTTP’s role as a storage protocol.

HTTP is the World Wide Web protocol that runs on top of TCP/IP. This protocol provides a set of rules for transferring data between HTTP endpoints that send requests and receive responses. This protocol is widely supported and implemented based on the client-server model. Most programming languages ​​provide good support for the HTTP protocol so that applications can access storage using standard technologies.

Non-volatile memory on tissue (NVMe-oF)

Built on the NVMe specification, NVMe-oF is a high-speed protocol that accesses solid-state storage across network fabrics such as Ethernet, Fiber Channel, and InfiniBand. This protocol can support a wide variety of NVMe devices and can support NVMe devices and their subsystems located over long distances. NVMe-oF defines a typical architecture for communicating with storage systems using NVMe message-based commands.

According to NVM Express Inc., nearly 90 percent of the NVMe-oF protocol is identical to the original NVMe, designed for SSDs that connect directly to computers via the Peripheral Component Interconnect Express bus.

The presence of NVMe protocol and PCIe connection in a solid state memory significantly increases the speed of reading and writing, which is four times faster than a SATA-type SSD memory with SCSI protocol.

NVMe complements the parallel architecture of current processors, operating systems, and applications. It should be noted that a similar structure allows more commands to be executed simultaneously. In addition, the NVMe drive uses an optimized path to issue orders, complete I/O operations, and support parallel operations with 64,000 orders, an I/O queue, and a potential 64,000 cues.

Older protocols, such as SCSI, can keep a limited number of orders in a row due to their serial nature.

Considering that NVMe is specifically designed for the NAND technology used in SSD memory, it can make the most of the potential benefits of this technology, which is achieving high speed and reducing latency. Like NVMe, the NVMe-oF protocol can better support the actual rate of flash memory, which is often limited by more traditional protocols and interfaces.

Storage vendors offering all-flash arrays have quickly adopted NVMe-oF to support intensive workloads and high-performance computing operations. Many believe that NVMe-oF will eventually become the de facto protocol for enterprise storage.