Fiber Channel Topologies

Fiber Channel:-
it is a gigabit speed networking technology.
Primarly used for storage network.
it transfers data in serial mode.

Topologies:-
1)Point to Point Topology
2)FC-AL(Fiber Channel Arbiterated Loop) Topology(126 devices max)
3)Switched Fabric Topology(239 devices max)


Point To Point topology:-

1)good performance
2)No addressing mechanism

Disadvantages:-
1) scalability not possible.

FC-AL Topology:-
1)up to 126 devices we can connect.
2)if one device communicating rest of all blocked.
FC-HUB:-
fc-Hub is implemented to eliminate blocking, hear bandwidth is shared.


Switched Fabric Topology:-
1)up to 239 devices we can connect.
2)each switch in a fabric have unique id.
3) in a fabric only one principle switch is configurable rest of all switches
are called subordinate switches.

Principal Switch:-
1) it is unique in fabric.
2) it maintain domain integrity of the fabric.
Rules for Principal switch:-
1)Least domain id
2)Least WWN's
3)Manual assigning