A Data Center Ethernet ('DCE') network and related methods and device are provided. A DCE network simplifies the connectivity of data centers and provides a high bandwidth, low latency network for carrying Ethernet, storage and other traffic. A Fibre Channel ('FC') frame, including FC addressing information, is encapsulated in an Ethernet frame for transmission on a Data Center Ethernet ('DCE') network. The Ethernet address fields may indicate that the frame includes an FC frame, e.g., by the use of a predetermined Organization Unique Identifier ('OUI') code in the D_MAC field, but also include Ethernet addressing information. Accordingly, the encapsulated frames can be forwarded properly by switches in the DCE network whether or not these switches are configured for operation according to the FC protocol. Accordingly, only a subset of Ethernet switches in the DCE network needs to be FC-enabled. Only switches so configured will require an FC Domain_ID.