Q-Logic 8200, 3200 manual PCIe PCI Express, port instance, quality of service QoS, target

User’s Guide Converged Network Adapter 8200 and 3200 Series Adapters

Because a path is a combination of an adapter and a target port, it is distinct from another path if it is accessed through a different adapter or it is accessing a different target port. Consequently, when switching from one path to another, the driver might be selecting a different adapter (initiator), a different target port, or both.

This is important to the driver when selecting the proper method of failover notification. It can make a difference to the target device, which might have to take different actions when receiving retries of the request from another initiator or on a different port.

PCIe (PCI Express)

Athird-generation input/output (I/O) standard that allows enhanced Ethernet network performance beyond that of the older peripheral component interconnect (PCI) and PCI extended (PCI-x) desktop and server slots.

port

Access points in a device where a link attaches. The most common port types are:

N_Port is a Fibre Channel device port that supports point-to-point topology.

NL_Port is a Fibre Channel device port that supports loop topology.

F_Port is a port in a fabric where an N_Port can attach.

FL_Port is a port in a fabric where an NL_Port can attach.

port instance

The number of the port in the system. Each adapter may have one or multiple ports, identified with regard to the adapter as port 0, port 1 and so forth. to avoid confusion when dealing with a system

containing numerous ports, each port is assigned a port instance number when the system boots up. So Port 0 on an adapter might have a port instance number of, for example, 8 if it is the eighth port discov- ered by the system.

quality of service (QoS)

Methods used to prevent bottlenecks and ensure business continuity when transmit- ting data over virtual ports by setting priori- ties and allocating bandwidth.

redundant array of independent/inexpensive disks (RAID)

Fault-tolerant disks that look like either single or multiple volumes to the server.

small computer systems interface (SCSI)

The original SCSI specification was a hardware bus specification and a packet-oriented protocol specification for communicating on that bus. SCSI over Fibre Channel uses the packet-oriented protocol to communicate with storage devices on the Fibre Channel.

storage area network (SAN)

Multiple storage units (disk drives) and servers connected by networking topology.

target

The storage-device endpoint of a SCSI session. Initiators request data from targets (usually disk-drives, tape-drives, or other media devices). Typically, a SCSI peripheral device is the target but an adapter may, in some cases, be a target. A target can contain many LUNs.

A target is a device that responds to a request by an initiator (the host system). Peripherals are targets, but for some commands (for example, a SCSI COPY command), the peripheral may act as an initiator.

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