IPFC

IPFC stands for Internet Protocol over Fibre Channel. It governs a set of standards created in January 2006 for address resolution (ARP) and transmitting IPv4 and IPv6 network packets over a Fibre Channel (FC) network.{{cite journal|title=RFC 4338|url=https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc4338/|website=datatracker.ietf.org|date=January 2006 |publisher=IETF|accessdate=3 November 2016 |last1=Desanti |first1=Claudio |last2=Nixon |first2=Robert |last3=Carlson |first3=Craig }} IPFC makes up part of the FC-4 protocol-mapping layer of a Fibre Channel system.{{cite web|last1=Black|first1=David L.|title=A Storage Menagerie: SANs, Fibre Channel, Replication and Networks|url=https://www.nanog.org/meetings/nanog51/presentations/Sunday/NANOG51.Talk8.StorageMenagerie.pdf|website=www.nanog.org|publisher=NANOG 51 Conference|accessdate=3 November 2016}}

In IPFC, each IP datagram packet is wrapped into a FC frame, with its own header, and transmitted as a sequence of one or more frames. The receiver at the other end receives the frames, strips the FC headers and reassembles the IP packet.{{cite book|last1=(Corporation)|first1=NIIT|title=Special Edition Using Storage Area Networks|year=2002|publisher=Que Publishing|isbn=9780789725745|page=256|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fXJBaZaprHsC&q=%22ip+over+fibre+channel%22&pg=PA256|accessdate=3 November 2016|language=en}} IP datagrams of up to 65,280 bytes in size may be accommodated.{{cite book|last1=DeCusatis|first1=Casimer|title=Handbook of Fiber Optic Data Communication: A Practical Guide to Optical Networking|date=9 August 2013|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=9780124016958|page=199|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tTgTAAAAQBAJ&q=%22ip+over+fibre+channel%22&pg=PA199|accessdate=3 November 2016|language=en}} ARP packet transmission works in the same fashion. Each IP datagram exchange is unidirectional, although IP and TCP allow for bidirectional communication within their protocols.

IPFC is an application protocol that is typically implemented as a device driver in an operating system.{{cite book|last1=Troppens|first1=Ulf|last2=Erkens|first2=Rainer|last3=Muller-Friedt|first3=Wolfgang|last4=Wolafka|first4=Rainer|last5=Haustein|first5=Nils|title=Storage Networks Explained: Basics and Application of Fibre Channel SAN, NAS, iSCSI, InfiniBand and FCoE|date=24 August 2011|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9781119965435|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w1xX9OJYdmEC&q=%22IPFC%22&pg=PT89|accessdate=3 November 2016|language=en}} IP over FC plays a less important role in storage area networking than SCSI over Fibre Channel or IP over Ethernet.{{cite book|last1=Long|first1=James|title=Storage Networking Protocol Fundamentals|date=30 May 2013|publisher=Cisco Press|isbn=978-0133490558|page=400|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t6JNLceD8Y8C&q=%22IPFC%22&pg=PA400|accessdate=3 November 2016|language=en}} IPFC has been used, for example, to provide clock synchronization via the Network Time Protocol (NTP).{{cite book|last1=Shamsee|first1=Navaid|last2=Klebanov|first2=David|last3=Fayed|first3=Hesham|last4=Afrose|first4=Ahmed|last5=Karakok|first5=Ozden|title=CCNA Data Center DCICT 640-916 Official Cert Guide|date=12 February 2015|publisher=Cisco Press|isbn=9780133860450|page=309|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-0GkBgAAQBAJ&q=%22IPFC%22&pg=PA266|accessdate=3 November 2016|language=en}}