Fibre Channel Technology

Definition:

Fibre Channel is a technology for transmitting data between computer devices at data rates
of up to 4 Gbps (and 10 Gbps in the near future). Fibre Channel is especially suited for connecting
computer servers to shared storage devices and for interconnecting storage controllers and drives. Since
Fibre Channel is three times as fast, it has begun to replace the Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) as
the transmission interface between servers and clustered storage devices. Fibre channel is more flexible;
devices can be as far as ten kilometers (about six miles) apart if optical fiber is used as the physical
medium. Optical fiber is not required for shorter distances, however, because Fibre Channel also works
using coaxial cable and ordinary telephone twisted pair.

Fibre Channel offers point-to-point, switched, and loop interfaces. It is designed to interoperate with SCSI,
the Internet Protocol (IP) and other protocols, but has been criticized for its lack of compatibility -
primarily because (like in the early days of SCSI technology) manufacturers sometimes interpret
specifications differently and vary their implementations.

Standards for Fibre Channel are specified by the Fibre Channel Physical and Signaling standard, and the
ANSI X3.230-1994, which is also ISO 14165-1

Fibre Channel Overview

For demanding applications, Fibre Channel (FC) technology has entrenched itself as the
quintessential storage area network (SAN) interconnect, providing high speed, high reliability, and inherent
security for storage network users. Fibre Channel technology is a block-based networking approach based
on ANSI standard X3.230-1994 (ISO 14165-1). It specifies the interconnections and signaling needed to
establish a network "fabric" between servers, switches and storage subsystems such as disk arrays or tape
libraries. FC can carry virtually any kind of traffic.

Fibre Channel uses optical fiber, coaxial copper or twisted pair copper cabling to carry SAN data at speeds
of 1 Gbps, 2 Gbps, 4 Gbps and (more recently) 10 Gbps. At the same time, latency is kept very low,
minimizing the delay between data requests and deliveries. For example, the latency across a typical FC
switch is only a few microseconds. It is this combination of high speed and low latency that makes FC an
ideal choice for time-sensitive or transactional processing environments. These attributes also support high
scalability, allowing more storage systems and servers to be interconnected. Fibre Channel is also supports
a variety of topologies, and is able to operate between two devices in a simple point-to-point mode, in an
economical arbitrated loop to connect up to 126 devices, or (most commonly) in a powerful switched fabric
providing simultaneous full-speed connections for many thousands of devices. Topologies and cable types
can easily be mixed in the same SAN.

Fibre Channel technology denotes four main service "classes" to meet a variety of enterprise needs. FC
Class-1 involves a dedicated connection running at full bandwidth using delivery confirmations. FC Class-
2 still provides confirmed delivery, but does not use a dedicated connection. FC Class-3 does not confirm
delivery, though this reduction in overhead can improve apparent performance slightly. FC Class-4
provides confirmed delivery along with advanced features such as virtual connections and fractional
bandwidth.

Fibre Channel is regarded as a very reliable SAN technology. The host bus adapters (HBAs) and switches
are generally quite robust, minimizing the rate of device failures. The FC SAN fabric allows for multiple
connection paths and redundant connections, so if a hardware fault or cabling issue arises, a new path can
be found and communication can failover to an alternate connection -- keeping storage and applications
connected (even at reduced performance) until corrective action can be taken. Alternatively, multiple
connections can be aggregated (or trunked) for even better bandwidth. For example, two 2 Gbps
connections can be aggregated so that they effectively behave as one 4 Gbps connection. The availability of
multiple or redundant connections enables load balancing where SAN traffic is analyzed and can be
dynamically rerouted from busy paths (bottlenecks) through less-used paths.

Security is another important attribute of Fibre Channel technology. A "network" lets multiple devices
communicate together. But for a SAN, it's generally not desirable to allow every server to recognize or
access every LUN on the SAN. In actual practice, LUNs must be configured so that they are visible to only
certain applications -- configuring security is a core part of the storage provisioning process. Zoning makes
it possible for devices within a Fibre Channel network to see each other. By limiting the visibility of end
devices, servers (hosts) can only see and access storage devices that are placed into the same zone. Once
the SAN is zoned, LUNs are masked so that each host server can only see specific LUNs.

However, there are some recognized disadvantages to FC. Fibre Channel has been widely criticized for its
expense and complexity. A specialized HBA card is needed for each server. Each HBA must then connect
to corresponding port on a Fibre Channel switch -- creating the SAN "fabric." Every combination of HBA
and switch port can cost thousands of dollars for the storage organization. This is the primary reason why
many organizations connect only large, high-end storage systems to their SAN. Once LUNs are created in
storage, they must be zoned and masked to ensure that they are only accessible to the proper servers or
applications; often an onerous and error-prone procedure. These processes add complexity and costly
management overhead to Fibre Channel SANs.

Port Details

Assigned
Type Meaning Reference
Value

1 unknown for use when the type is not known, or is [RFC4044]

"unidentified" as specified in section 5.1.2.10 of "Fibre
Channel - Generic Services - 3 (FC-GS-3)", ANSI
INCITS 348-2001, 2001.

2 other used for types without assigned values [RFC4044]

3 -- an obsolete value, not to be re-assigned [RFC4044]

4 N_Port see "Fibre Channel - Framing and Signaling (FC- [RFC4044]

FS)", ANSI INCITS 373-2003, April 2003.

5 NL_Port see "Fibre Channel - Framing and Signaling (FC- [RFC4044]

FS)", ANSI INCITS 373-2003, April 2003.
 6 F_Port see "Fibre Channel - Framing and Signaling (FC- [RFC4044]
FS)", ANSI INCITS 373-2003, April 2003.

7 FL_Port see "Fibre Channel - Framing and Signaling (FC- [RFC4044]

FS)", ANSI INCITS 373-2003, April 2003.

8 E_Port see "Fibre Channel - Framing and Signaling (FC- [RFC4044]

FS)", ANSI INCITS 373-2003, April 2003.

9 B_Port see "Fibre Channel - Framing and Signaling (FC- [RFC4044]

FS)", ANSI INCITS 373-2003, April 2003.

10 G_Port see "Fibre Channel - Switch Fabric - 3 (FC-SW-3)", [RFC4044]

ANSI INCITS 384-2004, June 2004. December 2003.

11 GL_Port see "Fibre Channel - Switch Fabric - 3 (FC-SW-3)", [RFC4044]

ANSI INCITS 384-2004, June 2004. December 2003.

12 F/NL_Port see "Fibre Channel - Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL-2)", [RFC4044]

ANSI INCITS 332-1999, 1999.

13-9999 Unassigned

10000- Private Use [RFC2434]

99999

100000 and Reserved

higher

References
----------
[FC-AL-2] "Fibre Channel - Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL-2)", ANSI INCITS
332-1999, 1999.

[FC-FS] "Fibre Channel - Framing and Signaling (FC-FS)", ANSI INCITS

373-2003, April 2003.

[FC-GS-3] "Fibre Channel - Generic Services - 3 (FC-GS-3)", ANSI

INCITS 348-2001, 2001.
[FC-SW-3] "Fibre Channel - Switch Fabric - 3 (FC-SW-3)", ANSI INCITS
384-2004, June 2004.
December 2003.

[RFC4044] K. McCloghrie, "Fibre Channel Management MIB", RFC 4044, May

2005.

FC Communications

Fiber optic communications is an established technology in the telecommunications

industry. In the computer industry it is an emerging technology due to its high
bandwidth and its ability to communicate at high speeds over distances that far
exceed what is possible using wire cable.
In the last six years, fiber optic technology for Fibre Channel (FC) applications has
advanced from 266 Mb/sec to 1063 Mb/sec.
This paper will describe the testing of FC cards and the manufacture of low cost
plastic optical subassemblies (OSAs). Future trends in fiber optic communications
cards will also be discussed.

Fiber channel is a new interface being developed for data system communications. This paper discusses the
aspects of the physical interface including the technology options and interoperability considerations.
Emphasis is given to the flexibility inherent in the structure of the standard that allows it to adapt to many
communications technologies and allows for future extensions.

Communication between devices in a fibre channel network uses different elements of the Fibre Channel
standards. The following sections introduce the main concepts and show how a combination of primitives
and frames is required.

The following Fibre Channel communication standards are supported on Xserve RAID:

 Fibre Channel Physical Interfaces (FC-PI)

 Fibre Channel Physical and Signaling Interface (FC-PH)
 Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL-2)
 Fibre Channel Private Loop Direct Attach (FC-PLDA)
 Fibre Channel Fabric Loop Attachment (FC-FLA)
 Fibre Channel Protocol for SCSI (FCP)