59265-02 B Glossary-1
Glossary
Active Zone Set
The zone set that defines the current
zoning for the fabric.
Active Firmware
The firmware image on the switch that is in
use.
Activity LED
A port LED that indicates when frames are
entering or leaving the port.
Administrative State
State that determines the operating state
of the port, I/O blade, or switch. The
configured administrative state is stored in
the switch configuration and can be
temporarily overridden using the command
line interface.
Alarm
A message generated by the switch that
specifically requests attention. Alarms are
generated by several switch processes.
Some alarms can be configured.
Alias
A named set of ports or devices that can
be used to define zone set membership
instead of listing each port or device
individually. An alias is not a zone, and
cannot have a zone or another alias as a
member.
AL_PA
Arbitrated Loop Physical Address
Arbitrated Loop
A Fibre Channel topology where ports use
arbitration to establish a point-to-point
circuit.
Arbitrated Loop Physical Address (AL_PA)
A unique one-byte value assigned during
loop initialization to each NL_Port on a
loop.
ASIC
Application Specific Integrated Circuit. A
microchip designed for special applica-
tions such as Fibre Channel, a transmis-
sion protocol, or a computer.
BootP
Boot Strap Protocol. A type of network
server.
Buffer Credit
A measure of port buffer capacity equal to
one frame.
Cascade Topology
A fabric in which the switches are
connected in series. If you connect the last
switch back to the first switch, you create a
cascade-with-a-loop topology.
Certificate Authority
An agency or organization that creates
signed digital certificates for use in public
key encryption.