Technical data

Glossary-1
Glossary
A
AL_PA Arbitrated-loop physical address. A unique 8-bit value assigned during loop initialization to a port in an
arbitrated loop. Alternately, “arbitrated-loop parameters.”
alias A logical grouping of elements in a fabric. An alias is a collection of port numbers and connected
devices, used to simplify the entry of port numbers and WWNs when creating zones.
ARB Arbitrative primitive signal. Applies only to an arbitrated-loop topology. Transmitted as the fill word by
an L_Port to indicate that the port is arbitrating access to the loop.
area number In Brocade Fabric OS v4.0 and above, ports on a switch are assigned a logical area number. Port area
numbers can be viewed by entering the switchshow command. They are used to define the operative
port for many Fabric OS commands: for example, area numbers can be used to define the ports within
an alias or zone.
ASIC Application-specific integrated circuit.
authentication The process of verifying that an entity in a fabric (such as a switch) is what it claims to be. See also
digital certificate.
autocommit A feature of the firmwaredownload command. Enabled by default, autocommit commits new
firmware to both partitions of a control processor.
autoreboot Refers to the -b option of the firmwaredownload command. Enabled by default.
B
backbone
fabric
An optional capability that enables scalable meta-SANs by allowing the networking of multiple FC
routers, which connect to the backbone fabric via EB_Port interfaces.
backup FCS
switch
Relates to the Brocade Secure Fabric OS feature. The backup fabric configuration server serves as a
backup in case the primary FCS switch fails. See also FCS switch, primary FCS switch.
BB fabric A backbone fabric that connects FC Routers. The FC Routers communicate over the backbone fabric
using FCRP (Fibre Channel Router Protocol).
BB_Credit Buffer-to-buffer credit. The number of frames that can be transmitted to a directly connected recipient
or within an arbitrated loop. Determined by the number of receive buffers available. See also buffer-to-
buffer flow control, EE_Credit.