F I B R E CA HT AU TNONR EI AL L:
With the spectacular performance
improvements in desktop computers,
workstations, and mass storage
devices during the 1990s (as well as
the move toward distributed client/
server architectures) much attention
has been focused on reliable, high-
performance data communication
between computers and between com-
puters and mass storage devices. Fibre
Channel (a highly reliable, gigabit-
per-second interconnection technol-
ogy) uses standard mass storage and
networking protocols to provide con-
current communication among work-
stations, mainframes, servers, data
storage systems, and other peripher-
als. It supports multiple topologies
that can scale up to a total system
bandwidth on the order of a terabit per
second. Off-the-shelf Fibre Channel
products that are available today
include switches, hubs, storage sub-
systems, storage devices, and adapters.
However, wading through the entire
Fibre Channel standards documenta-
tion can be a daunting task. This brief
tutorial provides a readable overview
of the Fibre Channel standard. While
it won’t make you an expert, it
provides a good starting point.
Most workstations are equipped with
separate ports for:
■ exchanging data with mass storage
devices
■ exchanging data with other work-
stations and servers over a local area
network
In the 1980s some companies decided that
there should be a data communications
standard that would allow mass storage
systems and local area network nodes to
transfer data over the same fibre. (Note:
The term “fibre” as used here is intended
to be a generic term, and is used to des-
cribe either an optical or a copper cable.)
The members of this group started with
the following set of requirements:
■ The interconnect should be able to
transfer data at rates from 133 Mbits/
sec to 4 Gbits/sec, with corresponding
cost trade-offs.
■ The interconnect should support data
transfers over distances up to 10 km.
■ The interconnect should employ com-
pact connectors.
■ The interconnect should provide high-
bandwidth utilization, regardless of
Copyright 2000 / All rights reserved
the distance over which the data is
being sent.
■ The interconnect should allow more
mass storage devices to be intercon-
nected than existing multidrop mass
storage channels.
■ The interconnect should employ
standard components.
■ The interconnect should allow for
cost/performance trade-offs, to make it
practical for use in a wide range of sys-
tems, from small desktop or embedded
systems to supercomputers.
■ The interconnect should be able to
carry the command sets of the proto-
cols that are already in widespread use,
including Internet Protocol (IP), SCSI,
IPI, HiPPI-FP, and audio/video.
The resulting Fibre Channel specification
(ANSI X3.230-1994) describes an inter-
connection technology that can be used as
either a mass storage channel or as a net-
work:
■ It has network features that provide the
required connectivity, distance, and
protocol multiplexing.
■ It supports traditional mass storage
channel features with its simplicity,
reliability, repeatable performance, and
guaranteed delivery.
In doing so, it performs the functions of
both a storage area network and a high-
speed local area network.
Storage Area Networks (SANs):
Storage area networks (SANs) are used to
link one or more servers to one or more
mass storage systems. Each mass storage
system might be:
■ a RAID
■ a tape backup
■ a tape library
■ a CD-ROM library
■ JBOD (Just a Bunch Of Disks)
Servers and workstations can use the Fibre
Channel interconnect for shared access to
the same mass storage device. Legacy
SCSI systems are interfaced to the SAN
through a Fibre-Channel-to-SCSI bridge.
Networks
Fibre Channel was developed to support
IT applications at the enterprise level, and
its designers focused on removing the per-
formance barriers of legacy LANs, such
as Ethernet. Among the advantages of
Reprinted from VMEbus Systems / March-April 2000 / 1
Fibre Channel for enterprise-level net-
working are:
■ a protocol stack that provide confirmed
delivery
■ the option of bypassing the protocol
stack for increased performance
■ complete support for traditional net-
work self-discovery, including full
support of ARP, RARP, and other
self-discovery protocols
■ support for point-to-point circuits,
shared bandwidth loop circuits, or scal-
able bandwidth switched circuits
■ true circuit connections (or fractional
bandwidth connection-oriented virtual
circuits) that provide a guaranteed
bandwidth for critical backups, or for
other operations
■ the option of real circuits or virtual
circuits
■ very fast circuit setup time (measured
in microseconds) using hardware
enhanced Fibre Channel protocols
■ extremely low-latency connection and
connectionless service
■ automatic node configuration, regard-
less of the Fibre Channel topology
■ full support for time synchronous
applications (such as video) using frac-
tional bandwidth virtual circuits
■ a choice of high-bandwidth or low-
latency transfers, using variable length
(0-2 Kbyte) frames. Very low latency
can be provided with frames of less
than 100 bytes, while very high band-
width can be provided for transferring
bulk data with the maximum frame size
The physical and signaling layer
Fibre Channel is structured with inde-
pendent layers. The five layers of Fibre
Channel (shown in Figure 1) define:
■ the physical media and transmission
rates
■ the encoding scheme
■ the framing protocol and flow control
■ the common services
■ the upper-layer protocol interfaces
The Fibre Channel
physical standard
The Fibre Channel physical standard (FC-
PH) completed its first public review in
January 1993, the second review began in
October 1993, and the standard was
approved in November 1994. It defines
the lower three layers:
■ FC-0 (The physical interface and media)
FIBRE CHANNEL:
A TUTORIAL
■ FC-l (The transmission protocol)
■ FC-2 (The framing and signaling
protocol)
Physical interface and media: FC-0
FC-0 is the lowest level. It specifies the
physical link of the channel. Fibre
Channel operates over various physical
media and data rates. Fibre Channel’s
approach ensures maximum flexibility,
allowing existing cable installations (as
well as a variety of new cable technolo-
gies) to be used.
Multimedia
FC-4 Audio Video IPI
Common Services
FC-3
include the serializer/deserializer
(SERDES) function and present a 20-
bit parallel interface to the Fibre
Channel encoding and control logic.
GLMs are primarily used to allow fac-
tory configurability, but they also
allow field exchanges or upgrades by
users.
■ Gigabit Interface Converters (GBICs)
provide a serial interface to the
SERDES function. GBICs can be hot
inserted or removed from installed
Fibre Channel nodes. These are partic-
ularly useful in multiple-port devices
(such as switches and hubs) where sin-
gle ports may need to be reconfigured
without interrupting the operation
other ports.
Channels Networks
SCSI HiPPI SBCCS IP
protocol. FC-2 defines a data transport
mechanism that is independent of upper
layer protocols. FC-2 is self-configuring
and supports point-to-point, arbitrated
loop, and switched environments.
An N_Port is a port on a node, such as:
■ a server
■ a workstation
■ a peripheral
If a port is inserted to a loop it becomes an
NL_Port. Data communications are per-
formed over a Fibre Channel link by the
interconnected ports. Each node includes
an ASIC with an embedded Fibre Channel
Link Control Facility, which handles the
logical and physical control of the link,
and provides a logical interface to the rest
of the system.
802.2
Each port contains a transmitter and a
receiver and can act as:

Framing protocol / Flow control ■ an Originator

FC-2
■ a Responder
FC-1 Encode / Decode ■ both an Originator and a Responder

10/20 bit media independent interface Serializer / Deserializer Fibre Channel implementation
Serializer / Deserializer Serial media independent interface nomenclature
(100-TW-S-EL and 100-M5-I-SL are the
Multimode fiber – Single mode fiber – Copper most common implementations)
FC-0 133 266 531 1.06 2.12 4.25
Mbits/sec Mbits/sec Mbits/sec Gbits/sec Gbits/sec Gbits/sec
Speed:
400 400 Mbytes/sec
FC-PH 200 200 Mbytes/sec
100 100 Mbytes/sec
Figure 1 50 50 Mbytes/sec
25 25 Mbytes/sec
As an example, with Fibre Channel, a sin- ■ Media interface Adapters (MIAs) 12.5 12.5 Mbytes/sec
gle-mode fibre can enter a building, a mul- allow users to interface copper DB-9
timode fibre can be used for the distribu- connectors to multimode fibre optics. Media:
tion inside, and copper drops can be used The power to support the optical trans- SM Single Mode Fiber
to connect to individual workstations. ceivers is supplied by pins defined in M5 50/125 Multimode Fiber
the DB-9 interface. M6 62.5/125 Multimode Fiber
For short distances, Fibre Channel uses MI Miniature Cable — Copper
twinax copper connections. 100 Mbytes/ Transmission protocol: FC-1 TV Video Cable — Copper
sec of effective transfer rate is possible The superior transmission characteristics TP Twisted Pair — Copper
with a line speed of 1.0625 Gbaud. of a DC-balanced 8B/10B code scheme TW Twinax — Copper
Copper connections are typically made are used by FC-1 for clock recovery, byte
through standard DB-9 connectors, or the synchronization, and encode/decode. In Distance:
more recently developed HSSDC con- this scheme, eight data bits (one byte) are L Long: >2 km
nectors. transmitted as a 10-bit group. This well- I Intermediate: 100 m to 2 km
balanced code (developed by IBM) allows S Short: <l00 m
Fibre optic connections (with effective for low-cost component design and pro-
transfer rates of 2.125 and 4.25 Gbaud) vides good transition density for easier Transmitter:
have also been approved. The fibre optic clock recovery. A unique special character LL Long Wave Laser
connections are typically made with dual (called a comma character) ensures proper (1300 to 1550 nm)
SC connectors. byte and word alignment. Other advan- SL Short Wave Laser
tages of this code are its error detection (780 to 850 nm)
Fibre Channel products may be equipped capability and a simple logic implementa- SN Short Wave Laser
with a copper or a fibre optic interface, or tion for both the encoder and the decoder. (780 to 850 nm, without
they may have a media independent inter- Open Fibre Control)
face. Three media independent interfaces Framing and signaling LE Long Wave LED
have been defined. protocol: FC-2 (1300 to 1550 nm)
Reliable communications result from Fibre EL Electrical
■ Gigabaud Link Modules (GLMs) Channel’s FC-2 Framing and Signaling

2 / VMEbus Systems / March-April 2000 Copyright 2000 / All rights reserved

Each port is given a unique name, called
an N_Port or NL_Port Identifier. Full
duplex data flows between data ports.
In addition to defining the framing struc-
ture, FC-2 provides a rich set of functions.
These functions include:
■ a robust 32-bit CRC (cyclic redun-
dancy check) that detects transmission
errors, to ensure data integrity
■ constructs to support efficient multi-
plexing of operations
■ a flow control scheme that also
ensures guaranteed delivery (Flow
control is buffer-to-buffer and/or
node-to-node for connectionless ser-
vice, and node-to-node for connec-
tion-based service.)
■ a set of generic functions that
are useful to various upper-layer
protocols.
■ built-in protocols that help manage
the operation of the link, control the
Fibre Channel configuration, perform
error recovery, and recover link and
port status information
■ optional headers that may be used for
network routing
■ control information in the header to
assist hardware routing
■ processes that provide for segmenta-
tion and re-assembly of data
Data groupings
To aid in the transport of data (from higher
layers) across the Fibre Channel network,
the FC-2 layer defines a hierarchy of data
groupings. These include:
■ The Ordered set
■ The Frame
■ The Sequence
■ The Exchange
The Ordered set
An ordered set consists of four 10-bit
characters – a combination of data charac-
ters and special characters that are used to
provide certain very low-level link func-
tions, such as frame demarcation and sig-
naling between the two ends of a link.
This signaling provides for initialization
of the link after power-on, and for certain
basic recovery actions.
The Frame
A frame is the smallest indivisible packet of
data that is sent over the link. The frame
structure is shown in Figure 2. Addressing
is done within the frame header. Frames are
not visible to the upper-layer protocols and
consist of the following fields:
■ A 4-byte start-of-frame delimiter
■ A 24-byte frame header (defined
by FC-2)
■ An optional 64-byte (defined by FC-2)
Copyright 2000 / All rights reserved
■ A variable-length payload, containing
data from the upper protocol layers
■ A 4-byte CRC (for error detection)
■ A 4-byte end-of-frame delimiter
Each frame (or group of frames) is
acknowledged as part of the flow control
scheme. “Busy” and “Reject” messages
are also defined to provide notification of
nondelivery of a frame.
The Sequence
Fibre Channel places no upper limit on the
size of data transfers between applications.
In LANs, the software must be aware of
the maximum frame size (or packet size)
that can be transmitted. However, frame
sizes are hidden to application software
when using Fibre Channel.
An upper-layer data structure (called
a Sequence) is the unit of data transfer
for the application programmer. This
Sequence is segmented and then sent over
the Fibre Channel as an ordered set of one
or more frames.
It is the FC-2 layer’s responsibility to break
a Sequence into frames that match the size
that has been negotiated between the com-
municating ports, and between the ports
and the fabric. Thus a single Sequence of
data generated by an upper-layer might
disassembled into multiple frames. Each
Sequence is uniquely identified by the ini-
tiator with a Sequence Identifier field in the
frame header. Additionally, each frame
within the Sequence is uniquely numbered
with a Sequence Count.
The Sequence is also the recovery bound-
ary in Fibre Channel. When an error is
detected, the FC-2 protocol determines
which Sequence contains the error and
then causes that Sequence (and any subse-
quent Sequences) to be retransmitted.
4-byte 2112-byte payload
start 24-byte
header
64-byte
of optional 2048-byte payload
frame header
Frame
Frame
Frame
Frame
Frame
Frame
Frame
Frame
Figure 2
The Exchange
An Exchange is composed of one or more
nonconcurrent Sequences for a single
operation. For example, an operation may
consist of several transfers, including:
■ a command to read some data
■ the transfer of the data
■ the completion status of the operation
Each transfer (command, data, and status)
is accomplished with a separate Sequence.
However, they form a single Exchange.
Within a single Exchange, only a single
Sequence may be flowing at any given
time, although Sequences for different
Exchanges might be concurrently in
progress. This is one form of multiplex-
ing supported by Fibre Channel. The
Exchange is uniquely identified by each
participating N_Port.
An Originator Exchange ID is assigned, in
an implementation-dependent manner,
by the originating N_Port (the initiator
of the first Sequence), and a Responder
Exchange ID is assigned, in an implemen-
tation-dependent manner, by the respond-
ing N_Port (the recipient of the first
Sequence). The Exchange IDs are con-
tained within the frame header and are
used locally by the N_Ports to manage the
Exchange.
The upper protocol layers
The Fibre Channel physical standard
defines a transport service that is designed
to move data reliably and fast, with the
scalability needed to meet virtually any
application requirement. There are also
two protocol layers above the physical
standard layers:
■ the Common Transport for Generic
Services (FC-3)
■ the Upper Layer Protocol mapping
(FC-4)
4-byte 4-byte
CRC end These higher protocol layers enhance the
error of
check frame functionality of the Fibre Channel link,
and provide for interoperability.
S
E General Services
E
Q X FC-3 provides servers that are accessible
to all N_Ports. Servers that are currently
U
E C defined include:
N
C
E
H ■ the Name Server
■ the Alias Server
S A ■ the Management Services
E
Q N ■ the Key Server
U
E
N
G The Name Server
C The Name Server maintains a directory of
E E N_Ports within a fabric, and a database
that includes such items as ID, worldwide
name, and the supported FC-4 protocols
Reprinted from VMEbus Systems / March-April 2000 / 3
FIBRE CHANNEL:
A TUTORIAL
for each N_Port. Any N_Port may query
the Name Server at any time to discover
other N_Ports attached to the fabric.
The Alias Server
The Alias Server is used to assign alias
IDs to multicast groups and to hunt
groups. A multicast frame is delivered to
all of the N_Ports that have been assigned
to the alias ID for the multicast group.
A hunt group is a set of N_Ports that all
provide Fibre Channel interfaces to a sin-
gle node. The Alias Server assigns an alias
ID to the entire set. This allows any
frames that contain this alias ID to be
routed to any available (non-busy) N_Port
within the set. This improves efficiency by
decreasing the chance of encountering a
busy N_Port.
Management Services
Management services are provided for
management applications to have access
to the entire fabric, its internal topology,
and its configuration. Management appli-
cations may, for example, specify which
N_Ports are allowed to access each other.
Other services allow the management
application to discover how the fabric
is interconnected. Authentication is
provided to ensure that the correct man-
agement application is configuring the
fabric.
Key Server
The Key Server provides a standard
method for distribution of authentication
keys and encryption keys. For example, a
management application that wishes to
access management services could query
the Key Server for the necessary authenti-
cation key.
The ULP mapping layer (FC-4)
Data can be concurrently transported over
the same physical interface using several
different protocols. The following proto-
cols have been specified (or proposed) as
FC-4s:
■ Small Computer System Interface
(SCSI)
■ Internet Protocol (IP)
■ High Performance Parallel Interface
(HiPPI) Framing Protocol
■ Single Byte Command Code Set
Mapping (SBCCS) to implement
ESCON and block multiplex inter-
faces
■ Audio Video Fast File Transfer
■ Real-time, embedded avionics
■ Virtual Interface (VI)
4 / VMEbus Systems / March-April 2000
Note: Proprietary protocols are also pos-
sible, and are permitted by the Fibre
Channel standard.
FC-4 maps these higher-layer protocols to
the FC-PH physical and signaling layers
below them. The physical and signaling
protocols are implemented in hardware,
providing faster throughput. Typically,
channel protocols follow the command/
data/status paradigm described earlier. Each
of these information categories has different
attributes and requires separate processing.
However, all three categories of info are
handled by the same hardware-imple-
mented protocol. Fibre Channel’s hardware
implementation eliminates the need to
expend compute cycles on I/O processing,
thus making servers, workstations, and
mass storage systems much more efficient.
Fibre channel topologies
Fibre Channel connects nodes using three
physical topologies. These topologies
include:
■ Point-to-point topologies
■ Loop topologies
■ Switched topologies
Loop topologies
Loops connected to the enterprise-level
network through a switch are called public
loops. A free-standing loop is called a
private loop. Hubs are normally used to
connect nodes into a loop topology.
Switch topologies
The primary function of a switch is to
receive frames from a source node and
route them to the destination node. Each
node has a unique Fibre Channel address,
which is used to route the frame. The
switch hides from the nodes:
■ the network topology
■ the routing path selection within the
switching fabric
■ the internal structure of the fabric,
which might consist of multiple inter-
connected switches
Each node only has to manage a simple
point-to-point connection between itself
and the switch. A node simply does the
equivalent of dialing a phone number by
inserting an ID number for the destination
node into the header of the frame, which
precedes the payload data. If that ID num-
ber is invalid, the switch rejects it. If for
some reason the switch cannot process the
data, it responds with a “Busy” signal, and
the node tries again.
A switch accepts the responsibility for
routing frames according to the class
of service selected by the initiating node.
The distance between the communi-
cating nodes is taken into account, and
the appropriate media and the components
needed to provide the quality of service
are chosen.
Loop and hub topologies
A Fibre Channel loop topology can inter-
connect up to 127 ports. Loop topologies
provide resilient interconnection through
their use of port bypass circuits. These
bypass circuits are installed either into the
backplane of a disk enclosure, or into an
external device called a hub.
The bypass circuit automatically detects
the presence of an active node and inserts
it into the loop. Similarly, it detects a node
that has failed or has been powered off and
removes it from the loop. This is accom-
plished automatically, without any manual
intervention.
Classes of service
Fibre Channel switches and nodes can be
designed to support five different Classes
of Service:
■ Class 1 — Acknowledged
Connection Service
■ Class 2 — Acknowledged
Connectionless Service
■ Class 3 — Unacknowledged
Connectionless Service
■ Class 4 — Fractional Bandwidth
Connection-Oriented Service
■ Class 6 — Unidirectional
Connection Service
Class 1: Acknowledged
connection service
Class 1 provides a true connection-based
service. The result is a full-bandwidth, cir-
cuit-switched connection. Fibre Channel
can setup (or tear down) such a connection
in microseconds.
An end-to-end path between the commu-
nicating nodes is established through the
switch. Since the only overhead for Class
1 is connection setup and tear-down, it is
an efficient Class of Service for large data
exchanges.
Class 1 service provides an acknowl-
edgment of receipt, for guaranteed deliv-
ery. Some applications (such as mass
storage backup and recovery) use Fibre
Channel’s guaranteed delivery feature
to move data reliably and quickly with-
out the overhead of a network protocol
stack.
Camp on is a Class 1 feature that enables
a switch to monitor a busy port and queue
that port for the next connection. As soon
as the port becomes free the switch
makes the connection. This shortens
connection times because there is no need
Copyright 2000 / All rights reserved
to send a “Busy” back to the originating
N_Port, forcing the N_Port to retry the
connection.
Stacked Connect is a Class 1 feature that
enables an originating N_Port to queue
multiple connection requests with a
switch. Again, this feature reduces over-
head, and makes the switching service
more efficient.
Class 1 also has a variation called buffered
service, which is used to connect two
Fibre Channel ports that are operating at
different speeds.
Another form of Class 1 connection
is called Dedicated Simplex Service.
Normally, Class 1 connections are bidi-
rectional. However, in this case, commu-
nication is in one direction only. This
decouples the transmit and receive switch-
ing, permitting a node to transfer data to a
second node while simultaneously receiv-
ing data from a third node.
Class 2: Acknowledged
connectionless service
Class 2 is a connectionless service that
routes each frame independently, while
providing guaranteed delivery, with an
acknowledgment of receipt. The path
between the two interconnected nodes is
not dedicated. The switch multiplexes
data traffic from N_Ports and NL_Ports
without dedicating a path through the
switch.
Class 2 flow control eliminates the
congestion problems seen in many
connectionless networks by sending a
“Busy” to the originating N_Port if the
destination port is unable to accept the
message. The N_Port will then re-send the
message.
Note: The very low frame latency in Class
2 makes it ideal for data transfers like
those in most business applications.
Class 3: Unacknowledged
connectionless service
Class 3 is a connectionless service, similar
to Class 2. However, no confirmation of
receipt is given to the sender.
This unacknowledged transfer is used for
mass storage interfacing on Fibre Channel
loops. The loop establishes a logical
point-to-point connection, and then reli-
ably moves data to or from mass storage
within the loop.
Class 3 transfers may also be used by
other upper-layer protocols not related
to mass storage, such as IP or VI. These
protocols create their own logical point-
to-point connections and provide their
Copyright 2000 / All rights reserved
own confirmation of receipt, and rely
on Fibre Channel's own reliable data
delivery.
Class 4: Fractional bandwidth
acknowledged connection-
oriented service
Class 4 is a fractional bandwidth, connec-
tion-oriented service. Virtual connections
are established with bandwidth reserva-
tion for a predictable quality of service. A
node may reserve up to 256 concurrent
Class 4 connections.
A Class 4 connection is bidirectional, with
one virtual circuit in each direction, and it
can support a different set of quality of ser-
vice parameters for each of these two vir-
tual circuits. Quality of service parameters
include guaranteed bandwidth and
bounded end-to-end delay. A quality of ser-
vice facilitator function within the switch
manages and maintains the negotiated
quality of service on each virtual circuit.
When a Class 4 connection is active, the
switch paces frames from the source node
to the destination node. Pacing ensures
that the traffic over a virtual circuit does
not exceed the allocated bandwidth. The
switch multiplexes frames belonging to
different virtual circuits between the same
or different node pairs. Class 4 service
provides in-order delivery of frames.
Class 4 flow control is end-to-end, and
provides guaranteed delivery. Class 4 is
ideal for time-critical and real-time appli-
cations like video.
Class 6: Unidirectional
connection service with
multicast and pre-emption
Class 6 is similar to Class 1, providing
a unidirectional connection service.
However, Class 6 also provides reliable
multicast and pre-emption. Class 6 is ideal
for video broadcast applications and real-
time systems that move large quantities
of data.
Fibre channel topologies
Fibre Channel allows the use of any of the
following topologies:
■ A point-to-point, dedicated bandwidth
topology
■ A loop shared-bandwidth topology
■ A switched scaled bandwidth
topology
Point-to-point, dedicated-
bandwidth topology
Point-to-point topology is available in two
varieties. The first is simply two N_Ports
connected and exchanging information.
The second is when an externally con-
trolled link switch is used to set up point-
Reprinted from VMEbus Systems / March-April 2000 / 5
to-point connections between pairs of
nodes in a collection of nodes.
In either case the two N_Ports have 100%
use of the bandwidth. The communication
is full-duplex. Therefore, a 1-Gbit trans-
mit and receive link is actually providing a
total of 2 Gbits/sec of dedicated band-
width.
Loop shared-bandwidth topology
A Fibre Channel loop provides a low-cost
solution that allows multiple nodes to
share the 1-Gbit bandwidth. Nodes share
access to the loop, but a pair of nodes have
full use of the 1-Gbit bandwidth once they
have established a logical point-to-point
connection. A loop may include as many
as 127 nodes. However, only one of these
nodes may be a switch port. Loops are
used for networks, and are the replace-
ment for SCSI in next-generation disks.
A Node requests control of the loop by
sending a Fibre Channel signal called a
primitive. Each node in the loop (that does
not currently have a connection to some
other node in the loop) relays the primitive
(as well as any frames) to the next node. If
that primitive signal is returned with the
sending node’s address, that node (which
might be the switch port) has control of
the loop.
If two or more nodes (or if a node and the
switch port) are contending for control at
the same time, loop control is given to the
lowest address. After a node (or the switch
port) gains control, it opens a full-duplex,
point-to-point circuit with another node.
Only one pair of nodes may communicate
over the loop at any given time. Any class
of service may be used. However, most
loop applications use Class 3. When con-
trol is released, another arbitration takes
place. Fairness guarantees equal access to
all ports.
A Fibre Channel loop is self-configuring,
and may operate with or without a switch.
Each loop node (including the switch port)
self-discovers its environment and works
properly (without manual intervention)
with other nodes in the Fibre Channel loop.
A stand-alone loop that is not connected
to any switch is called a Private Loop. If a
loop is linked into a Fibre Channel switch
(through a port called an FL_Port) the
loop is called a Public Loop.
Hubs
Loops can be wired node to node around
the entire loop. However, if any node fails
(or if any node is not powered on) the
entire loop will not operate. This problem
can be overcome with the use of a hub. A
FIBRE CHANNEL:
A TUTORIAL
hub uses a port-bypass circuit to detect
whether a node is active. The bypass cir-
cuit either opens the loop (thus inserting
the active node) or closes the loop, thus
ensuring the loop is operational even when
that node is inactive. Hubs also allow
nodes to be inserted or removed from the
loop while it is operating.
Fibre Channel mass storage enclosures
have a loop built into their backplane.
Each backplane node also has a port-
bypass circuit, just like those used in hubs.
This allows the disk drives to be hot
swapped, into and out of the loop.
Switched scaled-bandwidth
topology
Fibre Channel switches are easy to install
and use because the Fibre Channel proto-
col provides self-configuration and self-
management. When a Fibre Channel
switch or node powers on, it first deter-
mines what is on the other end of the cable,
and then figures out how to work with it.
If it is connected node-to-node, the two
nodes automatically operate point-to-point.
If it is connected to a switch, the node logs
in with the switch and then exchanges
interoperability parameters. If the connec-
tion is switch-to-switch, the login process
determines the network configuration and
addresses. All of this is automatic, requir-
ing no operator intervention.
There are two types of ports on a switch:
■ F_Ports / FL_Ports, which are used to
connect switch-to-node
■ E_Ports, which are used to connect
switch-to-switch
If a port on a switch is both an F_Port and
an E_Port it is called a G_Port (generic).
Most switches come with G_Ports that
automatically determine whether to
behave as F_Ports or as E_Ports during
initialization.
Fibre Channel switches that offer both
connection-based and connectionless
switching are actually two separate
switches in one. These switches let appli-
cations take advantage of the best features
of both types of switching technologies.
Note: Support for both a circuit-based and
a frame-based switching is not required.
Some switches are just circuit switches,
and others are just frame switches.
In the frame-switching mode, the band-
width is dynamically allocated, on a link-
6 / VMEbus Systems / March-April 2000
by-link basis. Based on adaptive routing
within the switch, individual frames
between the switch ports are indepen-
dently routed. During frame switching,
some buffering is needed inside the switch
to provide link level flow control between
the switch and the connected N_Port,
NL_Port, or E_Port. Applications that
need low latency for short transfers will
use frame switching.
Note: In the future the switch’s E_Ports
will also be connected to WANs through
an Inter Working Unit. This is the result of
a joint development between the Fibre
Channel industry in Japan and in the U.S.
Initialization
During initialization, address assignment
and switch-to-switch paths are automati-
cally determined. At any time during
the operation, nodes can be added or
removed. When nodes are connected, they
automatically login and exchange operat-
ing parameters with their switch. During
the login process an N_Port inherits the
address of its switch port. NL_Ports
inherit the top 16 bits of the switches
FL_Port and then assign up to 126
addresses, using the bottom 8 bits for
members of the loop.
Fibre Channel servers
Fibre Channel servers provide a set of
functions, called Generic Services, which
provide enhancements to Fibre Channel's
basic protocols. These servers are typi-
cally found in switched topologies.
Multiple switches linked together form a
fabric. The server functions might be cen-
tralized on a single switch within a fabric,
or they might be distributed over all the
switches in the fabric. The protocol used
to provide all services is the Fibre Channel
common transport protocol (FC-CT),
which is transparent to the fabric type or
topology.
The login server
The login server is a logical entity within
the switch that receives and responds to
login requests. The login server also con-
firms (or assigns) the N_Port address for
each node that initiates a login. The login
server can then provide the name server
with the login attributes of each of its
N_Ports.
The fabric/switch controller
A fabric/switch controller provides ser-
vices, such as initialization, configuration,
routing management, and optional fabric-
assisted services.
The name server
The name server allows all nodes attached
to a fabric to discover other nodes, their
attributes, and their N_Port identifiers. A
node name is an 8-byte value that may be
an IEEE address (worldwide unique) or it
may be locally assigned. In either case, it
is unique within the switch address space.
N_Port identifiers are assigned (optionally
by the login server) when login takes
place. After this time, a node or N_Port
may register the association between that
node and related N_Ports. Translation for
IP addresses, upper-layer protocols, and
classes of service is also provided.
The alias server
If a single server has multiple connections
to a Fibre Channel fabric, these might col-
lectively be designated as a hunt group.
The alias server assigns this hunt group an
alias.
The alias server also assigns an alias to
each multicast group. A multicast group is
a group of N_Ports that receive frames
transmitted by some N_Port belonging to
their group. The frame from a source
N_Port is replicated and sent to all the
other members of the multicast group,
using Class 3 service.
The alias server manages the registration
and the de-registration of all aliases. A sin-
gle N_Port can register with more than
one multicast group at any time.
An N_Port may also register a list of
N_Ports as members of a multicast group.
The fabric is responsible for the routing of
the frames based on these aliases.
Summary
Fibre Channel brings to market reliable,
high-performance, easy-to-use, low-cost
communications required by the new
breed of data-and communications-inten-
sive applications. It provides new levels of
performance for mass storage and server
networks. Fibre Channel’s high-speed
links offer more cost-effective solutions
than today’s systems.
Fibre Channel enables heterogeneous
clusters of mass storage, servers, and
workstations. It combines the attributes of
a channel with those of a network, a syn-
thesis which results in a more reliable,
faster, lower-cost, simpler, and more effi-
cient solution for IT systems.
Massive data warehouses and data
marts enable better management and deliv-
ery of data for improved decision making.
Highly available, scalable computer and
mass storage clusters deliver effective use
of corporate resources. Enterprises have
seen a mass storage explosion, and Fibre
Channel provides the means to manage
mass storage growth, while maintaining
and increasing performance.
Copyright 2000 / All rights reserved
Copyright notice: This article is based on
a book entitled Fibre Channel Technical
Overview (Copyright 1998 by the Fiber
Channel Industry Association. All rights
reserved.)
How to get information about
Fibre Channel standards currently
in progress
The National Committee for Informa-
tion Technology Standards (NCITS)
(which can be found on the web at
www.fibrechannel.org/technology/
index.2k.html) has a T11 Technical
Committee that is responsible for
device-level mass storage interface
standardization. This committee has
been producing interface standards
for high-performance and mass stor-
age applications since the 1970s.
Currently, T11’s program of work
includes three families of standards:
■ Fibre Channel (FC)
■ High-Performance Parallel
Interface (HIPPI)
■ Intelligent Peripheral Interface
(IPI)
The T11 Technical Committee has its
own web site (www.fibrechannel.org/
technology/index.2k.html) which pro-
vides access to past and current speci-
fications. If you want to go directly
to the web page that provides infor-
mation about their work on Fibre
Channel, you can access www.fibre
channel.org/technology/index.2k.html
Copyright 2000 / All rights reserved
The Fibre Channel
Industry Association
The Fibre Channel Industry
Association (FCIA) is organized as
a not-for-profit, mutual benefit cor-
poration. The FCIA was formed in
the fall of 1999, as a result of a
merger between the Fibre Channel
Association (FCA) and the Fibre
Channel Community (FCC). The
FCIA currently has more than 150
members in the United States and
through its affiliate organizations in
Europe and Japan. As a California
mutual benefit corporation, the busi-
ness of the FCIA is not conducted
for financial gain or profit, but rather
all FCIA activities and operations
are coordinated and implemented
for the mutual benefit of its mem-
bers. The FCIA mission is to nurture
and help develop the broadest mar-
ket for fibre channel products. This
will be done through market devel-
opment, education, standards moni-
toring and fostering interoperability
among members’ products.
Want more information
about Fibre Channel?
Check out the Fibre Channel
Industry Association’s web site at
www.fibrechannel.org. It provides
an overview of Fibre Channel tech-
nology, application stories, product
listings, event listings, and news
stories.
Reprinted from VMEbus Systems / March-April 2000 / 7