Introduction 1-1

CHAPTER 1

Introduction
The following QLogic™ host adapter boards are collectively referred to as the QLA2xxx board
unless otherwise noted:
•QLA2200 (64-bit PCI to Fibre Channel copper media)
•QLA2200F (64-bit PCI to Fibre Channel optical media)

General Description

Thank you for selecting the QLA2xxx Fibre Channel (FC) board. The QLA2xxx board is an intelli-
gent, high-performance, Direct Memory Access (DMA) bus master host adapter designed for high-
end systems. The intelligence and performance are derived from the ISP2xxx chips, making the
QLA2xxx board a leading-edge host adapter. The ISP2xxx combines a powerful reduced-instruction
Set Computer (RISC) processor, a Fibre Protocol Module (FPM) with gigabi t transceivers, and a
Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) local bus interface in a single-chip solution. The
QLA2xxx board supports all FC peripherals that support Private Loop Direct Attach (PLDA) and
Fabric Loop Attach (FLA). Installation of the QLA2xxx board is quick and easy.

Fea tu re s

•Compliance with Intel® PCI version 2.1 specification
•Compliance with Third Generation Fibre Channel Physical and Signaling Interface (FC-PH-3)
standard
•Compliance with Fibre Channel-Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) standard
•Compliance with U.S. and international safety and emissions standards
•Support for bus master DMA
•Fast !UTIL BIOS utility to customize the configuration parameters on the QLA2xxx board and
attached drives