Communicator e3000 MPE/iX Release 7.5 (Software Release C.75.00) (30216-90336)

Chapter 4
Fibre Channel Device and Adapter Support on HP e 3000 Systems
Fibre Channel Adapters and Peripherals Supported
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Fibre Channel Topologies Supported
The following fibre channel topologies are supported on HP e3000 N- and A-class systems using FC device
adapter cards:
• Fabric
• Arbitrated loop (Private and Public)
HP e3000 systems will not support point-to-point topology in actual fibre channel sense. However connecting
a single FC device to a single host system is still supported, but the setup will behave like a two-node private
loop. The host and the device will speak in “private loop” mode rather than in “point-to-point” mode as per
fibre channel protocol definitions. There is no major difference for customers from the point of view of
connectivity.
Cables and Connectors
Fibre optic cables are used to interconnect fibre channel adapters, devices, switches and hubs. An optical fibre
is made of two parts, the core and cladding, surrounded by a protective coating. The core and the cladding are
made as a single piece of glass, but each section has a different index of refraction. The difference in refractive
indexes creates a mirror around the core, which causes light entering the core to ricochet off the cladding
surface and travel along the core. There are several parameters involved in specifying a cable type. They are:
Multimode vs. Single-mode: Multimode cables are the more common fibre channel cables used for short
distance connections spanning over few meters. Single-mode cables are used for long distance applications
that are longer than a few miles.
Duplex vs. Simplex: Duplex cables allow for simultaneous, bi-directional data transfer allowing devices to
receive and send data simultaneously. Simplex cables only consist of one fiber allowing only one-way data
transfer. The cables listed below are multimode duplex cables and are used for most common fibre
applications.
Size: In a cable description, you will often see a reference to 50/125 or 62.5/125. This refers to the size of the
core and the cladding. The most common diameter of the core is 62.5 and 50 micron. A 9 micron diameter may
be seen in future technologies. The most common diameter of the cladding is 125 micron.
SC vs. LC Connectors: Fibre channel cables are plugged to adapter cards and devices through a Gigabit
Interface Connector (GBIC) module. The GBIC is a small hot-swappable serial-to-serial connector module
that can be used to provide a pluggable media interface for fibre channel devices. In recent fibre channel
products, GBICs have been replaced by Small Form Factor (SFF) optical modules. GBICs provide a SC-type
connector while SFFs provide a LC-type connector. The technical specifications for a FC adapter card or
device will mention the type of connector supported by it. The fibre channel cable used for interconnection
should be selected based on the type of connectors it will connect to at either end.
Table 4-1 Cabling Required for Connecting Fibre Channel Peripherals
Description Product Number Fibre Type Fibre Size
Cable
Length
Fibre Optic Cable SC/SC Connector
A3583A Duplex 50/125 2 meter
A3531A Duplex 50/125 16 meter
A3735A Duplex 50/125 50 meter
A3736A Duplex 50/125 100 meter