Operating Manual U42093-J-Z716-1-74
Glossary
Fibre Channel (FC)
Logically,the Fibre Channel is a bidirectional, full-duplex, point-to-point,
serial data channel structured forhigh performance data communication.
Physically,the Fibre Channel is an interconnection of multiple communi-
cation ports, called N_Ports,interconnected by a switching network, called
afabric, a point-to-point link, or an arbitrated loop. Fibre Channel is a gener-
alizedtranspor t mechanism that has no protocol of its ownor native
input/output commandset, but can transport any existing Upper Level
Protocols( ULPs)s uchas S CSI andIP.
Fibre Channel - Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL)
Oneof three existing Fibre Channel topologies, in which 2 to 126 devicesare
interconnectedser ially ina single loop circuit. The arbitrated loop topology
supports all classes of service and guarantees in order delivery of frames
when the source and destinationar e on the sameloop.
Fibre Channel Protocol for SCSI (FCP)
FCP defines a Fibre Channel mapping layer(FC-4) that uses FC-PH
services to transmit SCSI command, data, and status informationbetween
a SCSI initiatorand a SCSI target. Using FCP enables transmission and
receiptof SCSI commands, data and status, across the Fibre Channel using
the standard Fibre Channel frameand sequence formats.
Frame
Thesmallest, indivisible unit of information transfer used by Fibre Channel.
Framesare used for transferring data associated with a sequence. Frame
sizedepends on the hardware implementation and is independent of the
ULP or the applicationsoftware.
Gigabaud Interface Converter
A physicalcomponent that manages the functions of the FC-0 layer, which
is the physicalcharacteristic of the media and interface, including drivers,
transceivers,connectors, and cables. Mounts on a FC adapter card and
connectsthe PSFR-C P41to a F C host.Also referred to as a Physical Link
Module (PLM).
HardwarePath
See FC-SCSI Hardware PathID.
Host Bus Adapter
See FC Adapter.