Transparent transport of fibre channel traffic over packet-switched networks

1. A method for transporting fibre channel (FC) traffic over a packet-switched communication network, the method comprising:

establishing a FC connection between source and destination FC devices via the packet-switched communication network that is not terminated between the source and destination FC devices by:

accepting login signaling from the source FC device for logging in with the destination FC device;

transporting the login signaling over the packet-switched communication network to the destination FC device;

receiving over the packet-switched communication network an FC address of the destination FC device in response to the login signaling; and

delivering the FC address to the source FC device;

identifying a sub-sequence of repetitive FC signals in a sequence of FC words accepted over a FC link from the source FC device;

translating the sequence of the FC words into a sequence of data packets in accordance with a communication protocol supported by the packet-switched communication network, the sequence of the data packets comprising a repetition indication packet that identifies the sub-sequence of repetitive FC signals; and

transporting the FC words over the established connection by directing the FC words to the FC address, by transporting the sequence of the data packets over the packet-switched communication network using the communication protocol.

2. The method according to claim 1 and comprising:

receiving the transported data packets from the packet-switched communication network;

reproducing the sequence of the FC words by re-generating the sub-sequence of repetitive FC signals responsively to the repetition indication packet; and

providing the reproduced FC words to the destination FC device.

3. The method according to claim 1 wherein transporting the sequence of the data packets comprises identifying and retransmitting a lost data packet.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein transporting the sequence of the data packets comprises monitoring a packet loss performance of the transported data packets and adjusting a transmission rate of the data packets responsively to the monitored packet loss performance.

5. The method according to claim 1 wherein the destination FC device comprises a storage device, wherein the FC words carry data for storage in the storage device, and wherein transporting the data packets comprises reproducing the sequence of the FC words from the transported data packets, and providing the data to the storage device.

6. The method according to c 1 aim 1 wherein the communication protocol comprises a multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) protocol, and wherein transporting the sequence of the data packets comprises sending the data packets via an MPLS label switched path (LSP) established through the packet-switched communication network.

7. The method according to claim 1 wherein the sequence of the FC words comprises FC data frames and ordered sets, and wherein translating the sequence of the FC words into the sequence of the data packets comprises encapsulating at least one of the FC data frames and the ordered sets in accordance with the communication protocol to produce the data packets.

8. The method according to claim 1 wherein translating the sequence of the FC words into the sequence of the data packets comprises sending the repetition indication packet while refraining from sending the sub-sequence of repetitive FC signals over the packet- switched communication network.

9. The method according to claim 1 wherein transporting the FC words comprises at least one of communicating with a shared resource, accessing shared content and communicating with a server in a server cluster.

10. A system for transporting fibre channel (FC) traffic between source and destination FC devices over a packet-switched communication network, comprising:

a first translator, which is arranged to accept a first sequence of FC words from the source FC device, to identify a sub-sequence of repetitive FC signals in the first sequence of FC words, to translate the first sequence of FC words into a second sequence of data packets in accordance with a communication protocol supported by the packet-switched communication network, the second sequence comprising a repetition indication packet that identifies the sub-sequence of repetitive FC signals, and to transport the second sequence of the data packets over the packet-switched network using the communication protocol; and

a second translator, which is arranged to receive the transported data packets from the packet-switched communication network, to reproduce the first sequence of FC words by re-generating the sub-sequence of repetitive FC signals responsively to the repetition indication packet, and to provide the reproduced FC words to the destination FC device,

wherein the first and second translators are arranged to accept login signaling from the source FC device for logging in with the destination FC device, to transport the login signaling over the packet-switched communication network to the destination FC device, to receive in response to the login signaling over the packet-switched communication network an FC address of the destination FC device, to deliver the FC address to the source FC device so as to establish, via the packet-switched communication network, a FC connection between the source and destination FC devices that is not terminated between the source and destination FC devices.

11. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the first translator is arranged to receive a notification identifying a lost data packet, and to retransmit the lost data packet responsively to the notification.

12. The system according to claim 10 wherein the first translator is arranged to adjust a transmission rate of the data packets responsively to a monitored packet loss performance of the transported data packets.

13. The system according to claim 10 wherein the sequence of the FC words comprises data sent for storage in a remote storage device.

14. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the communication protocol comprises a multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) protocol, and wherein the first translator is arranged to send the data packets via an MPLS label switched path (LSP) established through the packet-switched communication network.

15. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the sequence of the FC words comprises FC data packets and ordered sets, and wherein the first translator is arranged to translate the sequence of the FC words into the sequence of the data packets by encapsulating at least one of the FC data frames and the ordered sets in accordance with the communication protocol to produce the data packets.