Fibre Channel Primer

15
FIBRE CHANNEL
OVERVIEW
After a lengthy review of existing equipment and standards, the Fibre
Channel standards group realized that channels and networks should
be able to share the same fibre. (Note that “fibre” is used throughout
this book as a generic term which can indicate either an optical or a
copper cable.)
IT systems frequently support two or more interfaces, and sharing
a port and media makes sense. This reduces hardware costs and the
size of the system, since fewer parts are needed. Fibre Channel, a
family of ANSI standards, is a common, efficient transport system
supporting multiple protocols or raw data using native Fibre Channel
guaranteed delivery services. Profiles define interoperable attributes,
based on these standards, for using Fibre Channel for different
protocols or applications.
Chapter 3
American National
Standards Institute
National Committee for
Information Technology Standards
Technical Committee T11: I/O Interface
Fibre Channel Standards
X3.230-1994–Fibre Channel Physical and
Signaling Standard (FC-PH)
Initial core standard
Interoperable
Profiles
Storage
Video
Networks
Real Time
Backbone
Avionics