Glossary
adapter | A printed circuit assembly that translates data between the FC host processor’s internal bus and |
| a different bus, such as SCSI. |
address | See SCSI addressing. |
addressing mode | Used to create a mapping table that maps devices on the SCSI bus to Fibre Channel logical |
| units. |
AL_PA | Arbitrated Loop Physical Address. A unique |
| Arbitrated Loop Topology as defined in ANSI specification FC_AL ver 4.5. |
arbitrated loop | See Fibre Channel - Arbitrated Loop. (ANSI specification FC_AL ver 4.5) |
area | The second byte of the N_Port Identifier. |
A menu item. The | |
mapping | upon powering up or resetting the interface card, that is not otherwise retained by the |
| interface card. |
baud | A unit of signaling speed, expressed as the maximum number of times per second the signal |
| can change the state of the transmission line or other medium (units of baud are |
| With Fibre Channel scheme, a signal event represents a single transmission bit. |
bus | A means of transferring data between modules and adapters or between an adapter and SCSI |
| devices. For a SCSI bus definition, see SCSI bus. |
channel | A general term for a path on which electronic signals travel. |
clusters | Two or more computers sharing the same resources on a communication link. |
interface card | An intelligent device within the SAN (storage area network) infrastructure that can handle |
| multiple protocols, such as Fibre Channel and SCSI. The routing decision is based on paths |
| between address mappings among dispersed initiators and targets. |
interface | Configuration involving at least two interface card/routers where one interface card/router is |
in Initiator Mode and another in Target Mode. | |
device | See FC Device or SCSI Device. |
differential | An electrical signal configuration using a pair of lines for data transfer. The advantage of |
| differential compared to |
| |
| means longer distance. |
domain | A FC term describing the most significant byte in the N_Port Identifier for the FC device. It is not |
| used in the |
| logically connected to a FC adapter. |
exchange | A FC term for the basic mechanism used for managing an operation. An exchange identifies |
| information transfers consisting of one or more related non concurrent sequences that may |
| flow in the same or opposite directions, but always in half duplex mode. An exchange is |
| identified by an OX_ID and an RX_ID. |
fabric | An FC term that includes FC Arbitrated Loop, Switched Fabric, and |
FC | See Fibre Channel. |