<s>
Fibre	B-Protocol
Channel	I-Protocol
over	I-Protocol
IP	I-Protocol
(	O
FCIP	B-Protocol
or	O
FC/IP	O
,	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
Fibre	B-Architecture
Channel	I-Architecture
tunneling	O
or	O
storage	O
tunneling	O
)	O
is	O
an	O
Internet	B-Protocol
Protocol	I-Protocol
(	O
IP	O
)	O
created	O
by	O
the	O
Internet	O
Engineering	O
Task	O
Force	O
(	O
IETF	O
)	O
for	O
storage	O
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
FCIP	B-Protocol
entity	O
functions	O
to	O
encapsulate	O
Fibre	B-Architecture
Channel	I-Architecture
frames	O
and	O
forward	O
them	O
over	O
an	O
IP	O
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FCIP	B-Protocol
entities	O
are	O
peers	O
that	O
communicate	O
using	O
TCP/IP	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FCIP	B-Protocol
technology	O
overcomes	O
the	O
distance	O
limitations	O
of	O
native	O
Fibre	B-Architecture
Channel	I-Architecture
,	O
enabling	O
geographically	O
distributed	O
storage	O
area	O
networks	O
to	O
be	O
connected	O
using	O
existing	O
IP	O
infrastructure	O
,	O
while	O
keeping	O
fabric	O
services	O
intact	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Fibre	B-Architecture
Channel	I-Architecture
Fabric	O
and	O
its	O
devices	O
remain	O
unaware	O
of	O
the	O
presence	O
of	O
the	O
IP	O
Network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
competing	O
technology	O
to	O
FCIP	B-Protocol
is	O
known	O
as	O
iFCP	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
uses	O
routing	O
instead	O
of	O
tunneling	O
to	O
enable	O
connectivity	O
of	O
Fibre	B-Architecture
Channel	I-Architecture
networks	O
over	O
IP	O
.	O
</s>
