• Switched hubs allow multiple devices to communicate simultaneously
• Scaled bandwidth:
– Each pair of devices has access to the full link bandwidth
• Still uses FC-AL topology:
– Same limit of 127 addresses
– Same limited management features as loop hubs
“Switching” Hubs:
Use loop segmentation to allow multiple devices to communicate simultaneously Effective bandwidth scales as devices are added to the loop (because simultaneous conversations are allowed) Extend the usefulness of lower-cost FC-AL implementations “Switching” Hubs still use the same FC-AL protocol used by loop hubs: Addressing limit of 126 node ports plus one FL_Port Switching hub does not provide “intelligence” or participate in FC-AL operations