Fibre Channel topology

Provisioning Guide for VSP One Block

Version
10.2.x
Audience
anonymous
Part Number
MK-23VSP1B012-00

You cannot set the Fibre Channel topology if one of these conditions is met:

  • The host I/O processing is being performed.
  • The LU is in the host-reserved (mounted) status.
Note: Some fabric switches require that you specify point-to-point topology. If you enable a fabric switch, check the documentation for the fabric switch to determine whether your switch requires point-to-point topology.

Fibre Channel provides the following types of topology:

Fabric
A network topology that uses a fabric switch to connect many devices (up to 16 million) together.
FC-AL (Fibre Channel-Arbitrated Loop)
A shared interface that can connect up to 126 devices (AL-ports) together.
Point-to-point
The simplest fibre topology connects two devices directly together.

When configuring your storage system, specify whether the hosts and the storage system are connected using a fabric switch. If a fabric switch is used, consult the documentation for the fabric switch to learn whether FC-AL or point-to-point should be used. Some fabric switches require you to specify point-to-point to get the system running.

If the settings are changed while connected to the server host, the device recognition from the server host changes, and then the device might not be browsed. In that case, restart the server host.

The combination of the specified connection type topology and the specified port speed is restricted. For details, see Available data-transfer speeds for FC ports.

Note that, for Fibre 64Gbps Channel Board, you cannot specify FC-AL for Connection Type.

Example of FC-AL and point-to-point topology