46 SAN Multiprotocol Routing: An Introduction and Implementation
4.1 Planning considerations
This section addresses the specific topics you need to consider when planning
solutions with the IBM TotalStorage SAN multiprotocol router products.
4.1.1 Piloting new technology
Whenever you plan to use advanced features, such as Fibre Channel (FC) over
IP (FCIP) or FC-FC routing, it always pays to implement it initially as a pilot with
the understanding that experience gained in your own environment will always be
slightly unique.
When implementing leading-edge technologies, many clients prefer to avoid the
uncertain outcomes that a pilot implies. Instead, they secure implementation
guarantees from vendors. But in fact, the outcome can never really ...