Fibre Channel

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Fibre Channel
Maria G. Luna
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Objectives

• Define what is Fibre Channel
• Standards
• Fibre Channel Architecture
• Simple example of a Network Connection
• Fiber Channel Layers
• Summary FC Layers (Picture)
• Fibre Channel Topologies
• Technology Comparison
• Conclusion

Maria G. Luna
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What is Fibre Channel?

• A high-speed transmission technology used as a
  peripheral channel or network backbone.
• It is a 100MB/sec, full-duplex, serial, data
  communication technology.
• It supports several common transport protocols
  like Internet Protocol (IP) and SCSI.
• It operates over copper and fiber optic cables at
  distances of up to 10 Kilometers.
• It is supported by many suppliers like Compaq,
  Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Seagate, and Sun
  Microsystems.

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Standards for Fibre Channel

• The T11 Committee of NCIT, a U.S.
  standards-development organization under the ANSI
  (American National Standards Institute) meets 6
  times a year to develop Fibre Channel standards.

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Current standards

• Some examples of current standards.
• Performance from 266 megabits/second to over 4
  gigabits/second.
• Support for distances of up to 10Km.
• High-bandwidth utilization with distance
  insensitivity.
• Support for multiple cost/performance levels,
  from small systems to super computers.
• Ability to carry multiple existing interface
  command sets, including Internet Protocol (IP),
  SCSI, IPI, and audio and video.

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Fibre Channel Architecture

• Fibre Channel transfers digital data between
  sources and users of information.
• This digital data represents different types of
  information like programs, files, graphics,
  videos and sound.
• Each having its own structure, protocol,
  connectivity, measures of performance and
  reliability requirements.

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Network Connection Example
Node Ports
Node Ports
Server
Printer
Storage Device
Node Ports
Node Ports
Computer/ Workstation
Computer/ Workstation
Fabric Ports
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Network connection (continued)

• Network Connections are established between the
  node ports (N_Ports), that are in computers,
  servers, storage devices, and printers, and the
  fabric ports (F_Ports), that are on the periphery
  of the Fibre Channel Fabric.
• The Fibre Channel Architecture specifies in
  detail the link Characteristics and protocol used
  between the node ports and the fabric ports.
• The Fibre Channel can interconnect more than 16
  million node ports in a single address.

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Fibre Channel Layers

• Five layers FC-1, FC-2, FC-3, and FC-4.
  
• Define the physical media, transmission rates,
  encoding scheme, framing protocol, flow control,
  common services, and the upper level interfaces.
• FC-0, FC-1, and FC-2 - define how Fibre Channel
  ports interact with other ports.
• They are refereed to as the Fibre Channel
  Physical levels (PC-PH Levels).
• FC-3, and FC-4 - define how Fibre Channel ports
  interact with applications in host systems.

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FC-0 Media and Interfaces

• Covers the physical characteristics of the
  interface and media, including cables,
  connectors, drivers, transmitters, and receivers.
• Examples of media
• twisted pair
• coaxial
• multi mode/single mode fiber
• fiber light sources
• long wave lasers

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FC-1, and FC-2

• FC-1 Transmission Protocol
• Defines how FC-0 signals are patterned to carry
  data and how port-to-port links are initialized.
• FC-2 Framing and Signaling Protocol
• Defines the rules for signaling and the transfer
  of data.
• Defines various classes of services, some
  examples
• Class 1 Is a full-duplex dedicated link between
  2 ports. (Highest quality of service because it
  is the most effective in transferring large
  amounts of data at very high speed.
• Class 2 Multiplexed connection , where 1 port
  can carry different exchanges with many other
  ports.
• Class 3 Multicast and broadcast where theres
  no confirmation of receipt.

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FC-3 and FC-4

• FC-3 Common Services
• Defines commons services provided by two or more
  node ports in a host system. (Ex. Two or more
  node ports, sharing a common port address, which
  increases the bandwidth available from node port
  to fabric ports).
• FC-4 Protocol Mappings
• Formed by series of profiles defining how to map
  legacy protocols to Fibre Channel.
• Profiles for protocols like IP, SCSI, for disk
  drives, and several others are already defined
  here.

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Fibre Channel Layers
FC-4
FC-3
Maria G. Luna
Source www.fibrechannel.com/layers/
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Fibre Channel Layers

• The previous picture illustrates the relationship
  between the media type and the operating range
  for each Fibre Channel, which is defined by the
  FC-0 layer.
• For example we see that a Multimode Fiber medium
  has a transfer rate of 133Mbps-266Mbps.
• And Singlemode Fiber medium has a range of
  531Mbps-1.06Gbps.
• Whereas a copper medium has a transfer rate
  2.12Gbps-4.25Gbps.

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Fibre Channel Layers (continued)

• We also observe the relationship between FC-0 and
  FC-1, where FC-1 defines how the signals are
  carried by the FC-0 layer.
• We also observe that the FC-2 layer defines the
  framing protocol, and flow control.
• We also observe that FC-3 defines the common
  services.
• And that FC-4 is the layer defining the protocols
  like IP.

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Fabric Topologies

• There are three topologies for Fibre Channel
  Fabrics
• Point-to-point
• Where two node ports have the same signaling
  rate and class of service.
• Switched
• Where 16 million node ports can be
  interconnected.
• Loop (Ring)
• Organizes up to 127 Fibre Channel ports on a
  ring, and distributes the routing functions
  among them.
• It is used more than the switched topology.
• It also costs less than switched topology.

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Technology Comparison
Maria G. Luna
Source www.fibrechannel.com
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Technology Comparison

• Clearly from this table we can observe that Fibre
  Channel is the best technology
• Because it provides a higher data rate than ATM.
• Because it can be employed in more topologies,
  when compared to the Ethernet, and ATM.
• It is more reliable since the delivery of data is
  guaranteed and theres no loss of data.
• It has a bigger frame size of up to 2KB when
  comparing it to Ethernets 1.5KB, and ATMs 53B
• And also because it supports Network, SCSI, and
  video protocols, whereas Ethernet only supports
  Network, and ATM only supports Network and Video
  Protocols.

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Conclusion

• Once again Fibre Channel is a high speed
  peripheral transmission technology used in
  networks.
• With a transmission rate of 100MB/sec and with a
  full-duplex flow of transmission.
• It is defined by five layers which are FC-0,
  FC-1, FC-2, FC-3, and FC-4, and they define the
  media, transmission rates, coding/encoding,
  framing, flow, and protocols supported.
• And when compared to the Ethernet and ATM
  technologies it is the best.
• Experts agree that Fibre Channel is the first
  technology with the potential to move the data
  communications industry into a low-cost-of-ownersh
  ip, commodity phase.

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References

• ComputerSelect
• Lee, Edwin. An Introduction to Fibre
  Channel. Unix Reviews Performance Computing
  (March, 1999).
• Computer Desktop Encyclopedia.
• Fibre Channel (1999).
• Newton's Telecom Dictionary.
• Fibre Channel Association (1999).
• Black, George. Fibre Alliance to set new
  standards. ComputerWeekly (February 11, 1999).
• www.fibrechannel.com/layers/.
• www.fibrechannel.com/standards/.
• www.fibrechannel.com/tech_comparison/.

Maria G. Luna