24 Installation Guide (AA-RTDWC-TE, July 2004)

Switch Features

20 Edge Switch 2/24 Installation Guide

Edge Switch 2/24 Description

The Edge Switch 2/24 provides Fibre Channel connectivity through 24 generic

mixed ports (GX_Ports). Switch ports can be configured as:

■ Fabric ports (F_Ports) to provide direct connectivity for up to 24 switched

fabric devices.

■ Fabric loop ports (FL_Ports) to provide arbitrated loop connectivity and fabric

attachment for FC-AL devices. Each FL_Port can theoretically support the

connection of 126 FC-AL devices.

■ Expansion ports (E_Ports) to provide interswitch link (ISL) connectivity to

fabric directors and switches.

The switch, shown in Figure 1 on page 21, provides dynamic switched

connections for servers and devices, supports mainframe and open-systems

interconnection (OSI) computing environments, and provides data transmission

and flow control between device node ports (N_Ports) as dictated by the Fibre

Channel Physical and Signaling Interface (FC-PH 4.3). Through interswitch links

(ISLs), the switch can connect additional switches to form a Fibre Channel

multi-switch fabric.

The switch provides connectivity for devices manufactured by multiple original

equipment manufacturers (OEMs). To determine if an OEM product can

communicate through connections provided by the switch, or if communication

restrictions apply, refer to the supporting publications for the product or contact

your HP marketing representative.