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Access method The method used to access a physical medium in order to transmit data.
ACK Acknowledgement frame. Used for end-to-end flow control; verifies receipt of
one or more frames from Class 1, 2 or F services.
Active copper A Fibre Channel connection that allows copper cabling up to 33 m (108 ft) in
length between devices.
Adaptive Networking A suite of fabric services introduced in Fabric OS 6.0 that employ deep fabric
intelligence to anticipate congestion and to dynamically make adjustments
in the fabric so that application traffic continues to flow. See also QoS,
Ingress Rate Limiting, and Traffic Isolation.
AD0 A special administrative domain. When an AD-capable switch is first added
to a fabric, all relevant resources of the fabric (switches, ports, devices)
become its members automatically. These resources are put in an implicit
list as defined later. When members are added to AD0 explicitly they become
part of the explicit list as fixed members.
AD255 An administrative domain that allows users to get an unfiltered view of the
fabric and manage ADs. Corresponds to the legacy physical fabric in a non-
AD aware fabric.
AD zone database The zone database owned by each AD. Once Fabric OS 5.2.0 and later is
installed, the root zone database will be owned by AD0, and each AD will
have its own zone database.
Address identifier A 24-bit number used to indicate the link-level address of communicating
devices. In a frame header, the address identifier indicates the source ID
(S_ID) and the destination ID (D_ID) of the frame respectively.
ARB Arbitrative Primitive Signal. Applies only to an Arbitrated Loop topology, and
is transmitted as the fill word by an L_Port to indicate the port is arbitrating
access to the loop.
Arbitrated Loop A shared 100/200-megabytes-per-second Fibre Channel transport
supporting up to a maximum of 126 devices and 1 attachment to a fabric.
Ports with lower AL_PAs have higher priorities.
Arbitration A method of gaining orderly access to a shared-loop topology.
B
Backbone fabric A Fibre Channel fabric that enables scalable metaSANs by allowing the
networking of multiple FC routers connected to the backbone fabric via
E_Port interfaces. Devices attached to Multiprotocol Routers via F_Port or
FL_Port, or imported via the iSCSI Gateway Service, are also considered part
of the backbone.
Bandwidth The transmission capacity of the cable, link, or system.
BB_Credit Buffer-to-buffer credit; used to determine how many frames can be sent to
the recipient.
Beacon A tool in which all of the port LEDs on a switch are set to flash from one side
of the switch to the other to enable identification of an individual switch in a
large fabric.
BER Bit Error Rate. The rate at which bits are expected to be received in error.
Expressed as a ratio of error bits to total bits transmitted.
Bit synchronization The condition is which a receiver is delivering retimed serial data at a
required bit error rate.
Bloom The code name given to the third-generation Brocade 2 Gbit/sec ASIC. This
ASIC is used in Brocade switches 3000 series and beyond.
Broadcast Sending a transmission to all Nx_Ports on a fabric.
Boot code Software that initialized the system environment during the early phase of
the boot up process. For example, boot code may determine the amount of
available memory and how to access it.
Boot flash Flash (temporary) memory that stores the boot code and boot parameters.
Brocade Data Migration Manager (DMM)
Brocade application that provides hardware-assisted data migration from
one storage device to another across a Brocade switch; enables the
migration of data from multiple storage devices simultaneously across
multiple fabrics; layered on the Brocade Storage Application Services (SAS).
Brocade DCX Backbone A backbone-class platform designed to operate at the core of the Brocade
Data Center Fabric (DCF). The Brocade DCX enables massive consolidation,
multi-protocol integration, and simplified management to dramatically
reduce operational and capital costs. It provides true interoperability with
existing SANs. See also Adaptive Networking and data center fabric.
Brocade Fabric Manager (FM)
Optionally licensed Brocade application that resides on a host computer and
enables fabric-wide management for multiple fabrics in a geographically-
dispersed location via a graphical user interface.
C
CAM Content-Addressable Memory.
Cascade Connecting two or more Fibre Channel hubs or switches to increase port
capacity or distance. Seven levels of cascading is the limit for Brocade
switches. Brocade 1000 switches can have up to 32 in a SAN; Brocade
2000 switches and above can have up to 239.
CRU Customer Replaceable Unit. A component that can, upon failure, be replaced
by an end user.
Cut-through A switching technique that allows a routing decision to be made as soon as
the destination address of the frame is received.
D
D_ID Destination identifier; a 3-byte field in the frame header used to indicate the
address identifier of the N_Port to which the frame is headed.
Dark fiber A leased fiber optic cable running between sites characterized by not having
a service provided on the wire by the leasing company; all services are
provided by the customer.
DAS Direct-Attached Storage.
DHCP Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. An Internet protocol for automating the
configuration of computers that use TCP/IP; can be used to automatically
assign IP addresses, to deliver TCP/IP stack configuration parameters, such
as subnet mask and default router, and to provide other configuration
information, such as the addresses for printer, time, and news servers.
DHCPD Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol daemon.
DID Destination ID with three fields: Domain ID (DD), Area ID (AA), and AL_PA
(PP). SID/DID traffic prioritization is a licensed feature introduced in Fabric
OS 6.0 that allows you to categorize the traffic flow into high, medium, or
low priority. Requires an Adaptive Networking license on every switch in
the path between a given configured device pair. See also QoS.
E
8b/10b encoding An encoding scheme that converts an 8-bit byte into one or two possible 10-
bit characters; used for balancing 1s and 0s in high-speed transports.
ECCN Export Classification Control Number. A government classification of
encryption, for example, SSH is in the high-encryption category and therefore
has certain restrictions regarding its transfer.
Edge fabric A Fibre Channel fabric connected to an FC router via an EX_Port (where
hosts and storage are typically attached in a metaSAN).
E_D_TOV Error-Detect Time Out Value. The maximum round-trip time that an operation
could require before declaring an error condition.
Effective zone configuration
A subset of the defined zone configuration, containing only the zone
configuration objects that are currently enabled; only one configuration can
be active at a time, but multiple configurations can be defined in the
database.
EE_Credit End-to-End Credit. Used to manage the exchange of frames by two
communicating devices and set the maximum number of frames that may
remain unacknowledged.
Enterprise Fabric Connectivity Manager (EFCM)
See Brocade Enterprise Fabric Connectivity Manager.
E_Port A standard Fibre Channel mechanism that enables switches to network with
each other.
F
Fabric A collection of Fibre Channel switches and directors and connected devices,
such as hosts and storage.
FCIA Fibre Channel Industry Association. Its mission is to nurture and help
develop the broadest market for Fibre Channel products.
FCIP Tunneling Service A service that enables SANs to span longer distances than could be
supported with native Fibre Channel links. FCIP is a TCP/IP-based tunneling
protocol that allows the transparent interconnection of geographically
distributed SAN islands through an IP-based network.
FCLC Fibre Channel Loop Community.
FCP Fibre Channel Protocol. SCSI to Fibre Channel mapping.
FDDI Fibre Distributed Data Interface. ANSI architecture for a Metropolitan Area
Network (MAN); a network based on the use of optical-fiber cable to transmit
data at 100 megabits per second.
FDMI Fabric Device Management Interface. A database service provided by the
fabric for Nx_Ports. The primary use is by HBA devices that register
information about themselves and their ports.
FFFFF5 Well-known Fibre Channel address for a Class 6 multicast server.
FFFFF6 Well-known Fibre Channel address for a clock synchronization server.
FFFFF7 Well-known Fibre Channel address for a security key distribution server.
FFFFF8 Well-known Fibre Channel address for an alias server.
FFFFF9 Well-known Fibre Channel address for a QoS facilitator.
FFFFFA Well-known Fibre Channel address for a management server.
FFFFFB Well-known Fibre Channel address for a time server.
FFFFFC Well-known Fibre Channel address for a directory server.
Fibre Channel (FC) The primary protocol for building SANs. Unlike IP and Ethernet, Fibre Channel
was designed to support the needs of storage devices of all types.
Fibre Channel Network Address Translation (FC-NAT)
A capability that allows devices in different fabrics to communicate when
those fabrics have addressing conflicts. This is similar to the "hide-behind"
AT used in firewalls.
Fibre Channel Router Protocol (FCRP)
A Brocade-authored standards-track protocol that enables LSAN switches to
perform routing between different edge fabrics, optionally across a
backbone fabric.
FICON® A protocol used on IBM mainframes; FICON support enables a Brocade
fabric to transmit FICON format data between FICON-capable servers and
storage.
FID Fabric ID. Unique identifier of a fabric in a metaSAN; the backbone fabric is
also identified using a unique fabric ID.
Fill word The primitive signal used by L_Ports to be transmitted between frames.
FIPS Federal Information Processing Standard. Publicly announced standards
developed by the US Federal government, for example, standards for
encoding data and encryption standards. See also KAT.
FL_Port A fabric loop port to which a loop attaches; it is the access to the fabric for
NL_Ports on a loop.
Flash Programmable nonvolatile RAM (NVRAM) memory that maintains its
contents without power.
G
Gateway A device that connects incompatible networks by providing the necessary
translation, both for hardware and software.
GbE Port Gigabit Ethernet port available on some Brocade switches; supports FCIP
and FC Channel Routing Service features with link speeds up to 1 Gbit/sec.
GBIC Gigabit Interface Converter. A removable transceiver module permitting Fibre
Channel and Gigabit Ethernet physical-layer transport.
Gbps Gigabits per second. Also, Gbit/sec.
GBps Gigabytes per second. Also GB/sec.
Gigabit 1,062,500,000 bits per second.
H
HA High Availability. A set of features in Brocade switches designed to provide
maximum reliability and nondisruptive replacement of key hardware and
software modules.
Half duplex A mode of communication that allows a port to either transmit or receive
frames at any time except simultaneously (with the exception of link control
frames, which can be transmitted at any time).
Hard address The AL_PA that an NL_Port attempts to acquire during loop initialization.
HBA Host Bus Adapter. An interface between a server or workstation bus and the
Fibre Channel network.
I
Idle An ordered set transmitted continuously over a link when no data is being
transmitted to maintain an active link. It helps maintain bit, byte, and word
synchronization.
IQN iSCSI Qualified Name. An iSCSI address that uniquely identifies an iSCSI
device on the network, the equivalent of a Fibre Channel WWN.
iSCSI Internet Small Computer System Interface. An IP-based storage networking
standard.
iSCSI Gateway Service A service that maps the SCSI protocol to the IP transport. This service
projects iSCSI hosts onto the backbone fabric of a gateway switch.
iSCSI PDU iSCSI Protocol Data Unit. A message between an iSCSI initiator and iSCSI
target; has a Header and an optional Data Unit.
iSCSI target gateway An intermediate device in a network that allows iSCSI initiators in an IP SAN
to access and use storage in an FC SAN.
ISL oversubscription ratio
The ratio of the number of free ports (non-ISL) to the number of ISLs on a
switch.
Isolated E_Port Occurs when an ISL is online but not operational between switches because
of overlapping domain IDs or no identical parameters such as E_D_TOVs.
ISP Internet Service Provider.
J
JBOD Just a Bunch Of Disks. A term for disks typically configured as an Arbitrated
Loop segment in a single chassis.
Jitter A deviation in timing for a bit stream as it flows through a physical medium.
L
L_Port Loop Port. A node port (NL_Port) or fabric port (FL_Port) that has arbitrated-
loop capabilities
LAN Local Area Network. A network where transmissions are typically less than
5 km (3.4 mi).
Latency The period that a frame is held by a network device before it is forwarded.
Link control facility A termination, handling physical and logical control of the FC link for each
node.
Link cost A dimensionless positive number associated with the cost of an ISL or IFL
that, by default, is inversely proportional to its bandwidth.
LIP Loop Initialization Primitive sequence. A means to get an AL_PA address, to
indicate a loop failure or to reset a node.
LIPA Loop Initialization Previously Assigned. A situation in which the device marks
a bit in the bitmap if it had not logged in with the fabric in a previous loop
initialization.
Loom The code name given to the second-generation Brocade fabric ASIC, used in
the Brocade 2000 series of switches.
Loop circuit A temporary bi-directional communication path established between L_Ports.
Loop_ID A hexadecimal value representing one of the 127 possible AL_PA values in
an Arbitrated Loop.
M
MAC address Media Access Control address. The address used for communication
between network adapters on the same subnet. Each network adapter has
an associated MAC address.
N
N_Port A Fibre Channel port in a fabric or point-to-point connection.
Name Server or Service A switch service that stores names, addresses, and attributes for up to 15
minutes and provides them as required to other devices in the fabric; also
known as “Simple Name Server (SNS)” or “directory service.”
NAS Network-Attached Storage. A disk array connected to a controller that gives
access via a LAN.
Native PID Introduced with the Brocade 2000 series switches, supports up to 16 ports
per switch.
NDMP Network Data Management Protocol. Used for tape backups without using
server resources.
NIC Network Interconnect Card.
NSCAM Name Server Cache Manager. Updates the NS databases across switches as
a background task.
Nx_Port Node port that can operate as either an N_Port or NL_Port.
O
OFC Open Fiber Control. A method used to enable and disable laser signaling for
higher-intensity laser transceivers.
OLS Offline Primitive Sequence. Used during link initialization between two
N_Ports in a point-to-point topology or an F_Port and an N_Port in a fabric. It
is sent to indicate that the transmitting port is attempting to initialize a link,
has recognized the NOS primitive sequence, or is going offline. The expected
response to an OLS is an LR.
OLTP Online Transaction Processing.
OPN Open Primitive Signal. Applies only to Arbitrated Loop, and is sent by an
L_Port that has won the arbitration process to open communication with one
or more ports on the loop.
Ordered set A set of 4 characters beginning with a special character used to manage
frame transport, initialization, and media access, and to distinguish Fibre
Channel control information from data.
Originator The Nx_Port that originated an exchange.
P
Parallel The simultaneous transmission of data bits over multiple lines.
Participating mode The normal operating mode for an L_Port that has acquired an AL_PA on a
loop.
Passive copper A low-cost copper Fibre Channel connection allowing distances up to 13 m
between devices.
PBC Port Bypass Circuit. A circuit in hubs or a disk enclosure to open or close a
loop to add or remove nodes.
Phantom device A device that is not physically in an Arbitrated Loop, but is logically included
via the use of a phantom address.
Phantom domain ID The domain ID used for importing devices into edge or backbone fabrics.
Physical fabric In AD-aware fabrics, an unfiltered view of the actual fabric.
PID Port identifier.
PKI Public Key Infrastructure. An infrastructure based on public key cryptography
and CA (certificate authority) that uses digital certificates.
PKI certification utility Public Key Infrastructure certification utility; enables the collection of
certificate requests from switches and the loading of certificates to switches.
PLDA Private Loop Direct Attached. A technical report specifying a logical loop.
PLOGI A port-to-port login process by which initiators establish sessions with
targets.
Point-to-Point A dedicated Fibre Channel connection between two devices.
Port A Fibre Channel entity that connects a node to the network.
Port address In Fibre Channel technology, defined in hexadecimal; in Brocade Fabric OS,
can be defined by a domain and port number combination or by area
number.
POST Power On Self Test. A routine that the switch performs to test its
components.
PPID Unique static identifier for each blade in a bladed server; resides on a
printed label and on an electronic tag on the card.
Primary FCS switch Primary Fabric Configuration Server switch. In Brocade Secure Fabric OS,
actively manages security and configurations for all switches in the fabric.
Primitive sequence Ordered sets that indicate or start state changes on the transport medium
and require at least three consecutive occurrences to trigger a response.
Primitive signals Ordered sets that indicate actions or events and require just one occurrence
to trigger a response. Idle and R_RDY are used in all three topologies, ARB,
OPN CLS, and MRK are used in Arbitrated Loop.
Principal switch The first switch to boot up in the fabric; ensures unique Domain IDs amongst
other roles.
Private device A device that supports loop and can understand 8-bit addresses but does
not log into the fabric.
Private loop An Arbitrated Loop device with no participating FL_Port.
Private loop device An Arbitrated Loop device with no fabric attachment.
Private NL_Port An NL_Port on a public or private loop; it only communicates with other
ports on the loop, not with the fabric.
Q
QLogic A brand of host bus adapters and switches.
Quality of Service (QoS) An optionally licensed fabric service introduced in Fabric OS 6.0that allows
you to assign different priority to different applications, users, or data flows,
or to guarantee a certain level of performance to a data flow between a
given host-target pair. You assign high or low priority (QoS level) using a
special QoS zone.See also Adaptive Networking, SID, and DID.
Queue A mechanism for each AL_PA address that allows for collecting frames prior
to sending them to the loop.
QuickLoop A Brocade software product that allows multiple ports on a switch to create a
logical loop. Devices connected via QuickLoop will appear to each other as if
they were on the same Arbitrated Loop.
QuickLoop mode Allows initiator devices to communicate with private or public devices that
are not in the same loop.
R
R_A_TOV Resource Allocation Timeout Value. Used to time out operations that depend
on the maximum allowable time a frame could be delayed in the fabric and
still be delivered.
R_CTL Route Control. The first 8 bits of a header, which defines the type of frame
and its contents.
R_RDY Receiver Ready. A primitive signal indicating that the port is ready to receive
a frame.
Repeater A circuit that uses recovered clock to regenerate and transmit an outbound
signal.
Resilient core/edge topology
Two or more switches acting as a core to interconnect multiple edge
switches, nodes attach to the edge switches.
Responder The N_Port with which an Exchange originator wishes to communicate.
Retimer A circuit that uses an independent clock to generate outbound signals.
Root zone database The zone database from a pre-Fabric OS 5.2.0 fabric; once Fabric OS 5.2.0
or later is installed, the root zone database is owned by AD0.
Route A path between two switches.
Routed fabric Two or more edge fabrics interconnected by one or more backbone fabrics.
Routing The assignment of frames to specific switch ports, according to frame
destination.
RSCN Registered State Change Notification. A switch function that allows
notification to registered nodes if a change occurs either with or within the
fabric.
S
S_ID Source Identifier. A 3-byte field in the frame header used to indicate the
address identifier of the N_Port from which the frame was sent.
SA Security Association. The collection of security parameters and
authenticated keys negotiated between IPsec peers.
SEQ_ID Sequence Identifier; a 1-byte field in the frame header change to identify the
frames as being part of a particular Exchange Sequence between a pair of
ports.
Sequence A group of related frames transmitted uni-directionally from one N_Port to
another.
Sequence initiator The N_Port that begins a new sequence and transmits frames to another
N_Port.
Sequence recipient The N_Port to which a particular sequence of data frames is directed.
SERDES SERializing/DESerializing circuitry. A circuit that converts a serial bit stream
into parallel characters, and vice-versa.
Serial The transmission of data bits in sequential order over a single line.
Server A computer that processes end-user applications or requests.
SES SCSI Enclosure Services. A subset of the SCSI protocol used to monitor
temperature, power, and fan status for enclosed devices.
T
T10 A standards committee chartered with creating standards for SCSI.
T11 A standards committee chartered with creating standards for Fibre Channel.
Tachyon A chip developed by Hewlett-Packard, and used in various devices. This chip
has FC-0 through FC-2 on one chip.
Tape Pipelining A Fabric OS feature that accelerates the writes to tape devices of FCIP from
a host; eliminates the latency associated with the sequential nature of a
tape device, thus forcing the host to send multiple outstanding commands
and buffering associated data at the remote switch.
Target A disk or a tape device in SCSI.
TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol over Internet Protocol.
Telnet A virtual terminal emulation used with TCP/IP.
Tenancy Possession of an Arbitrated Loop by a device to conduct a transaction.
Trunking A fabric feature that enables distribution of traffic over the combined
bandwidth of up to eight ISLs between adjacent switches, while preserving
in-order delivery.
Trunk group A set of ports that share traffic to a destination domain. Bloom-based
switches supported trunk groups of up to four ISLs. Condor and GoldenEye
based switches support trunk groups of up to eight ISLs.
TTL Time To Live. The number of seconds an entry exists in cache before it
expires.
Tunneling A technique for making two different networks interact where the source and
destination hosts are on the same type of network, but there is a different
network in between.
Unicast A routing method that provides one or more optimal path(s) between any two
switches in the fabric.
UTC Universal Time Conversion. Also known as “Coordinated Universal Time,” an
international time standard that is 5 hours behind Eastern Standard Time
(EST).
V
VAR Value Added Reseller.
VC Encoded PID PID format defined by the Brocade 1000 series switches.
VCSEL Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser. An improved and more reliable type of
laser.
VE_Port Virtual E_Port; functions somewhat like an E_Port, but terminates at the
switch and does not propagate fabric services or routing topology
information from one edge fabric to another. The link between an E_Port and
EX_Port or VE_Port is called an Inter-Fabric Link (IFL).
W
WAN Wide Area Network.
WAN_TOV Wide Area Network Timeout Value.
Z
Zone A logical group of member devices; devices in the same zone have access to
others in the zone but are not visible to a device outside the zone.
Zone configuration In Brocade zoning, a zoning object that contains a set of zones; the highest-
level zoning element and used to enable or disable a set of zones in the
fabric.
Zone member Defines a device; can belong to more than one zone at a time.
Zone object A device defined in the zone database, which can be a member within an
alias, zone, or configuration.
© 2008 Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 01/08 GA-GL-024-01
Brocade, Fabric OS, File Lifecycle Manager, MyView, and StorageX are registered trademarks and the Brocade B-wing
symbol, DCX, and SAN Health are trademarks of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., in the United States and/or
in other countries. All other brands, products, or service names are or may be trademarks or service marks of, and
are used to identify, products or services of their respective owners.
Notice: This document is for informational purposes only and does not set forth any warranty, expressed or implied,
concerning any equipment, equipment feature, or service offered or to be offered by Brocade. Brocade reserves the
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