Fibre Channel Primer

1
WARP SPEED
INFORMATION
DELIVERY
Fibre Channel is the solution for Information Technology (IT) professionals
who demand reliable, cost-effective information storage and delivery at
blazing speeds. Today’s data explosion presents unprecedented enterprise
challenges in data warehousing, imaging, integrated audio/video, networked
storage, real-time computing, CAD/CAE, archival/backup, and disaster
recovery. Fibre Channel is simply the most reliable, highest performance
solution for information storage, transfer, and retrieval available today.
With development started in 1988 and ANSI standard approval in
1994, Fibre Channel is the mature, safe solution for gigabit communications.
Fibre Channel economically and practically meets the challenge with these
advantages:
l Price Performance Leadership – Fibre Channel delivers cost-
effective solutions for storage and networks.
l Solutions Leadership – Fibre Channel provides versatile
connectivity with scalable performance.
l Reliable – Fibre Channel provides sustained, assured information
delivery using a reliable transport.
l Gigabit Bandwidth Now – Gigabit solutions are in place today!
On the horizon is multiple gigabit-per-second data delivery.
l Multiple Topologies – Dedicated point-to-point, shared loop, and
switched fabric topologies meet application requirements.
l Multiple Protocols – Fibre Channel delivers data. SCSI, TCP/IP,
video, or raw data can all take advantage of high-performance,
reliable Fibre Channel technology.
l Scalable – From single point-to-point gigabit links to integrated
enterprises with hundreds of servers and storage systems, Fibre
Channel delivers unmatched performance.
Chapter 1