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| Fibre Channel | |
|---|---|
| Layer 4. Protocol mapping | |
| LUN masking | |
| Layer 3. Common services | |
| Layer 2. Network | |
| Fibre Channel fabric Fibre Channel zoning Registered state change notification | |
| Layer 1. Data link | |
| 8b/10b encoding | |
| Layer 0. Physical |
In thecomputer storage field, aFibre Channel switch is anetwork switch compatible with theFibre Channel (FC) protocol. It allows the creation of aFibre Channel fabric, that is the core component of astorage area network (SAN). The fabric is a network of Fibre Channel devices which allowsmany-to-many communication, device name lookup,security, andredundancy. FC switches implementzoning, a mechanism that disables unwanted traffic between certain fabric nodes.
Fibre Channel switches may be deployed one at a time or in larger multi-switch configurations. SAN administrators typically add new switches as their server and storage needs grow, connecting switches together via fiber optic cable using the standard device ports. Some switch vendors offer dedicated high-speed stacking ports to handle inter-switch connections (similar to existing stackable Ethernet switches), allowing high-performance multi-switch configurations to be created using fewer switches overall.
Major manufacturers of Fibre Channel switches includeBrocade Communications Systems (now part ofBroadcom),Cisco Systems, andQLogic (acquired byCavium, now part ofMarvell Technology Group).
A special variety of a FC switch is theFibre Channel Director, a switch meant to provide backbone infrastructure in a fabric usually featuring at least 128 ports and high-availability attributes, however the term is loose and varies among to manufacturers.[1] It does not differ from a switch in core FC protocol functionality. Thedirector term itself is derived from legacyESCON Directors such as the IBM 9032-005.