2LE - FCSan

Storage Area Network

high-speed, dedicated network of servers and shared storage devices; provides storage consolidation and facilitates centralized data management

Fibre Channel

a high-speed network technology that runs on high-speed optical fiber cables and serial copper cables.

Components of FC SAN

node ports, cables, connectors, and interconnecting devices, SAN management software

Nodes

The end devices, such as hosts, storage arrays, and tape libraries

Two Types of Optical Fiber Cables

Multimode Fiber (MMF) Cable and Single-mode fiber (SMF)

Multimode Fiber (MMF) Cable

carries multiple beams of light projected at different angles simultaneously onto the core of the cable

Modal Dispersion

This collision weakens the signal strength after it travels a certain distance

Single-mode fiber (SMF)

carries a single ray of light projected at the center of the core

Connectors

attached at the end of a cable to enable swift connection and disconnection of the cable to and from a port

Name this diagram

FC SAN Implementation

Interconnect Devices

Hubs, switches, and directors

Hubs

used as communication devices in FC-AL implementations.

Switches

more intelligent than hubs and directly route data from one physical port to another. Therefore, nodes do not share the bandwidth.

Directors

high-end switches with a higher port count and better fault-tolerance capabilities.

SAN Management Software

manages the interfaces between hosts, interconnect devices, and storage arrays; provides a view of the SAN environment and enables management of various resources from one central console

Fabric

a logical space in which all nodes communicate with one another in a network;

created with a switch or a network of switches

Interswitch Link (ISL)

the link between any two switches

N_Port

end point in the fabric; host port (HBA) or a storage array port connected to a switch in a switched fabric.

E_Port

forms the connection between two FC switches

F_Port

port on a switch that connects an N_Port

G_Port

generic port on a switch that can operate as an E_Port or an F_Port

Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP)

FC SAN uses the *________________* that provides both channel speed for data transfer with low protocol overhead and scalability of network technology.

Fibre Channel Protocol Stack

FC-4 Layer, FC-2 Layer, FC-1 Layer, FC-0 Layer

FC-4 Layer

defines the application interfaces and the way *Upper Layer Protocols* (ULPs) are mapped to the lower FC layers

FC-2 Layer

provides Fibre Channel addressing, structure, and organization of data (frames, sequences, and exchanges)

FC-1 Layer

defines how data is encoded prior to transmission and decoded upon receipt

FC-0 Layer

defines the physical interface, media, and transmission of bits

World Wide Names (WWN)

a 64-bit unique identifier assigned to each device in the FC environment

Zoning

an FC switch function that enables node ports within the fabric to be logically segmented into groups and to communicate with each other within the group

Zone Members

nodes within the SAN that can be included in a zone

Zone Sets

composed of a group of zones that can be activated or deactivated as a single entity in a fabric

Port Zoning

Uses the physical address of switch ports to define zones.

WWN Zoning

Uses World Wide Names to define zones

Mixed Zoning

Combines the qualities of both WWN zoning and port zoning

Mesh Topology

Full Mesh and Partial Mesh

Full Mesh

every switch is connected to every other switch in the topology; a maximum of one ISL or hop is required for host-to-storage traffic

Partial Mesh

several hops or ISLs may be required for the traffic to reach its destination

Core-edge Fabric and Mesh

Two types of topologies

Core-Edge Fabric Topology

has two types of switch tiers--edge tier and core tier

Edge Tier

composed of switches and offers an inexpensive approach to adding more hosts in a fabric

Core Tier

composed of enterprise directors that ensure high fabric availability; all traffic must either traverse this tier or terminate at this tier

Block-level Storage Virtualization

aggregates block storage devices (LUNs) and enables provisioning of virtual storage volumes, independent of the underlying physical storage

Virtual SAN (VSAN)

a logical fabric on an FC SAN, which enables communication among a group of nodes regardless of their physical location in the fabric