How the HP e1200-320 4Gb FC Interface Card works

The interface card is a device that translates the Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP) to and from the SCSI Protocol—transparently transferring commands, data, and status information—so that both the Fibre Channel (FC) and SCSI devices and hosts can communicate with each other. Interconnection is provided between two SCSI buses and one Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop or Switched Fabric, making use of Fibre Channel’s ability to encapsulate SCSI protocol packets.

Processing SCSI information

The following section describes how the interface card processes SCSI information when attached to FC hosts.

1.A FC host issues a command. The FC host encapsulates the command in the FCP protocol and sends the packet to the interface card.

2.The internal FC interface card receives the packet, interprets the FC information, and places the packet in buffer memory.

3.The processor interprets the information and programs an internal SCSI controller to process the transaction.

4.The SCSI controller sends the command to the SCSI device (target).

5.The SCSI target interprets the command and executes it.

6.Data flows between the FC host and SCSI target through payload buffers.

7.Response information flows from the SCSI target back to the FC host.

HP e1200-320 4Gb FC Interface Card features

Fibre Channel features

•One FC port (selectable between 4.25, 2.125 and 1.0625 Gbps)

•Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) including Point-to-Point configurations in arbitrated loop topology only and Switched Fabric (FC-SW) topologies

•Private Loop Direct Attach (PLDA) profile compliant

•Class 3 operation with SCSI-FCP protocol

•Supports FCP-2 error recovery protocol as specified in FCP-2 rev. 04 and 05 for use with streaming devices (such as tape)

•Optical SFP support (Shortwave)

SCSI bus features

•Auto-negotiation for Narrow, Wide, Fast, and up to Ultra320

•Concurrent commands, tagged command queuing and disconnect/reconnect

•SCSI-2 and SCSI-3 protocols

•Connection type is VHDCI 68-pin D shell, P type connectors

•LVD/single-ended termination

•Disk, tape, optical, and changer devices

Management features

•Interface card LUN commands

•Out-of-band Ethernet TCP/IP management access

•DHCP for easier network addressing

•Serial 3-pin connector for terminal access

•Ethernet RJ-45 connector for FTP, Telnet, and Web browser access

•Firmware that can be updated in the field

•SCC (FC only), Indexed, and Auto Assigned addressing modes