Fibre Channel Terminology
• Links are the physical media that connect ports
together in a Fibre Channel SAN:
– Cables and connectors
– Signal converters (transceivers)
• ISL = Inter Switch Link
Links
ISL
Tape device
HBA
Server
Switch
Subsystem
controller Storage
Fibre Channel links:
Carry Fibre Channel transmissions from the transmitting port to the
receiving port
Include cables, connectors, and optical-electrical transceivers
Ports communicate across links. Here is a port in an HBA, connected to a port
in a switch. Between the two ports there is a point to point link.
If two switch ports are joined together, at that point, it is still a link. This is how
an inter switch link (ISL) is created. A node port joined to a switch port is a
link.
Nodes communicate through ports and nodes can be accessible through one
or more ports.