Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) is giving away Open FCoE, a software stack for Intel's 10 Gigabit Ethernet Server Adapter X520 family that makes it possible to run Fibre Channel over standard Ethernet networks. The idea is to introduce a common protocol for enabling Fibre Channel on Ethernet, a ubiquitous networking protocol used in corporate networks. A unified network can help corporations cut cable costs by 80 percent and halve the amount of power consumed, Intel said in a statement. Industry heavyweights such as software makers Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Red Hat and Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL), as well as enterprise system vendors such as EMC, NetApp and Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) Systems are apparently giving their support.

Running Fibre Channel on an Ethernet network eliminates the need for specialized FC adapters, essentially off-loading the processing of data traffic to the servers. The counter argument is that there are few use cases today in which FCoE is desirable, other than booting from a SAN. This is also the reason why some enterprise system vendors do not consider Intel's move to be a game changer at the moment, though it can surely only hasten the convergence of Ethernet with FC.

For more on this story:
- check out this article at InformationWeek
- check out this article at Search Storage
- check out this article at eWeek

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