System and method for supporting fibre channel over ethernet communication

A method comprising:

• for each of one or more host computers configured to send and receive packets according to a Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) network protocol:
• identifying one or more virtual local area network (VLANs) of which one of the host computers is a member, wherein each VLAN is uniquely identified by a VLAN ID and includes just one of the target storage arrays;
• and
• sending a separate login message to a target storage array in each of the identified VLANs, wherein each target storage array is included in VLAN with the host computer;
• for each of the one or more target storage arrays:
• sending a node port (N_Port) ID to the host computer in the VLAN comprising a host ID and the VLAN ID, in response to receiving a login message from the given host computer, wherein the host ID uniquely identifies the host computer in the VLAN;
• extracting Fibre Channel (FC) frames from received FCoE packets;
• and
• encapsulating FC frames in FCoE packets;
• wherein an FCoE Forwarder (FCF) or an FCoE switch is absent in an end-to-end communication between each of the one or more host computers and the only target storage array.

A network adapter card included in a target storage array, wherein the target storage array is included in a virtual local area network (VLAN) with one host computer, the network adapter card comprising:

• one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) configured to:
• receive a login message from the host computer, wherein the target storage array is configured to communicate with the host computer according to a Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) network protocol;
• send a node port (N_Port) ID to the host computer comprising a host ID and a VLAN ID that uniquely identifies each VLAN, in response to receiving the login message from the host computer, wherein the host ID uniquely identifies the host computer in the VLAN, wherein each VLAN includes just one of the target storage arrays;
• extract Fibre Channel (FC) frames from received FCoE packets;
• and
• encapsulate FC frames in FCoE packets;
• wherein an FCoE Forwarder (FCF) or an FCoE switch is absent in an end-to-end communication between the host computer and the target storage array.