Switched Fabric
• FC-SW: Fibre Channel
Switched Fabric Topology
• Scalable bandwidth:
– Each concurrent conversation can
access the full link bandwidth
• Over 16,000,000 available
addresses
• Management features:
– Zoning (security)
– Name Server (discovery)
– Multicast and broadcast
– Management services
Fibre Channel Switched Fabric (FC-SW) topology:
Most common today due to scalability and performance
Each path has the full link bandwidth
Theoretically, the FC-SW device addressing scheme allows over
16,000,000 addresses, using the full 24 bit addressing range, but the
practical limit is still in the hundreds or thousands
FC switches offer the same advantages over FC hubs as Ethernet
switches offer over Ethernet hubs:
Scalable bandwidth
More flexible configuration
FC-SW protocol offers enhanced capabilities, including:
Zoning
Security
Multicast and broadcast control