CHEETAH 15K.7 FC PRODUCT MANUAL, REV. E 56
11.5 FC-AL PHYSICAL INTERFACE
Figure 12 shows the location of the J1 Fibre Channel single connection attachment (FC-SCA). Figure 14 provides the
dimensions of the FC-SCA connector.
Details of the physical, electrical, and logical characteristics are provided within this section. The operational aspects of
Seagate’s Fibre Channel drives are provided in the Fibre Channel Interface Manual..
Figure 12. Physical interface
11.5.1 Physical characteristics
This section defines physical interface connector.
11.5.1.1 Physical description
FIbre Channel drives may be connected in a loop together or with other compatible FC-AL devices. A maximum of 127
devices may have addresses; however, one of the addresses is reserved for a fabric port switch device. This means 126
addresses are available for FC-AL devices. More FC-AL compatible devices may physically reside on the loop, but they will
not be functional because they would not be able to obtain valid addresses.
Port bypass circuits (PBCs) allow devices to be inserted into unpopulated locations or removed from the loop with loop
operation recovery after a brief interruption. These PBCs are located external to the FC-AL device. Figure 13 shows the
relationship between the PBC and FC-AL device.
Figure 13. Port bypass circuit physical interconnect
J1 interface connector
Port Bypass
Circuit N 1
Select
Drive N 1
Port Bypass
Circuit N 1
Drive N 1
Drive N
Serial
In
Serial
Out
From Previous
Drive
Port Bypass
Circuit
To Next
Drive
MUX