Specifications

3
Planning Considerations for Fibre Channel Topologies
3-11
Planning Considerations for Fibre Channel Topologies
Planning for Fabric-Attached Loop Connectivity
Public arbitrated loop topology supports the connection of
workgroup or departmental FC-AL devices to a switched fabric
through any Sphereon 4000-series fabric switch port active as an
E_Port. This topology is well-suited to:
• Providing connectivity between a workgroup or departmental
SAN and a switched fabric, thus implementing connectivity of
FC-AL devices to fabric devices at the core of the enterprise.
• Consolidating low-cost Windows NT or Unix server connections
and providing access to fabric-attached storage devices.
• Consolidating FC-AL tape device connections and providing
access to fabric-attached servers.
NOTE: For the Sphereon 4300 Fabric Switch, E_Port connectivity is not
standard and must be configured through an optional product feature
enablement (PFE) key
Connecting FC-AL
Devices to a
Switched Fabric
Sphereon 4000-series fabric switches provide dynamic connectivity
between FC-AL devices and directors or switches participating in a
switched fabric. This function allows multiple low-cost or low-
bandwidth departmental or workgroup devices to communicate with
fabric-attached devices through a high-bandwidth link and provides
connectivity as required to an enterprise SAN environment. This
approach provides:
• Cost-effective FC-AL device connectivity to a switched fabric. A
loop switch provides fabric connectivity without incurring true
switched fabric costs.
• Improved access and sharing of data and computing resources
throughout an organization by connecting isolated departmental
or workgroup devices to the core data center. Fabric-to-loop
connectivity ensures edge servers have access to enterprise
storage, and edge peripherals have access to enterprise
computing resources.