Fibre Channel technology is a computer communications
protocol designed to meet requirements related to the increasing
demand for high performance information transfer. Fibre
Channel attempts to combine the benefits of both channel
and network technologies. The goals of Fibre Channel include:
Support
for multiple data rates, media types, interfaces and connectors
High
bandwidth (100MB/s and beyond)
Flexible
topologies
Reliable
connectivity over several kilometers
Fibre Channel is making the biggest impact in the storage
arena, especially when employed using SCSI as its upper
layer protocol.
Compared with traditional SCSI, the benefits of mapping
the SCSI command set onto Fibre Channel include:
Faster
speed
Increased
device connectivity
Longer
reliable cable lengths between devices
Fibre Channel (using Arbitrated Loop topology) is being
used as a replacement for SCSI. Many companies are already
shipping SCSI adapter cards for several platforms, operating
systems and disk drives and storage devices. Manufacturing
companies such as Caen are also investigating SCSI tape
device interconnectivity.
In addition to using SCSI, several companies are selling
Fibre Channel devices that run Internet Protocol (IP). Although
the Upper Level Protocol (ULP) is independent of the topology,
IP is more commonly found in switched fabric environments.
SCSI and IP are basically the only two ULPs used commercially
on Fibre Channel.
Fibre Channel will most likely continue to expand into
the storage markets because of its benefits over traditional
channel technologies such as SCSI. Many applications such
as multimedia, medical imaging and scientific visualization
are able to access mass storage devices quicker and from
greater distances by using Fibre Channel.
Fibre Channel also has advantages for mission-critical,
fully tolerant, disaster recovery applications. Such applications
require storage devices to be placed in geographically separate
locations to protect from natural disasters such as fire
or earthquake.
Fibre Channel attempts to combine the benefits of both
channel and network technologies.
What is a Channel?
A channel is a closed, direct, structured, and predictable
mechanism for transmitting data between relatively few entities.
Typically, once a channel is set up, very little decision
making is needed allowing for a high-speed, hardware-intensive
environment.
Channels are commonly used to connect peripheral devices
such as disk drives, printers, and tape drives to a workstation.
Common channel protocols include Small Computer System Interface
(SCSI) and High Performance Parallel Interface (HIPPI).
What is a Network?
Networks, on the other hand, are unstructured and unpredictable.
They are able to automatically adjust to changing environments
and can support a larger number of connected nodes. Networks
require a much higher level of decision-making take place
in order to successfully route data from one point to another.
Software makes many of these decisions, slowing the network.
Examples of common networks are Ethernet, Token Ring,
and Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI).
Where did Fibre Channel Technology
Come From?
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Task Group
X3T11 began work on the Fibre Channel standards in 1988.
At least 20 separate documents, each defining an aspect
of Fibre Channel, are either proposed or in draft form.
Although several of the standards are still in their early
stages of development, Fibre Channel products are being
shipped today.
Please contact our sales team at sales@caeneng.com
or our service department at support@caeneng.com
if you want to find out more!
