– Consists of one or more fabric elements – Appears as a single entity to nodes – Provides a homogenous addressing space
Node Node Node Node Node Node Node
Fabric
Node
Transparency to nodes:
Fabric topology Routing path selection
The switched fabric environment:
Appears as a single entity to nodes no matter how many elements are actually present in the fabric Provides a single addressing space (no subnetting)
The architecture and operations of the fabric, including topology and routing, are transparent to the nodes: The HBAs and subsystem controllers (N_Ports) do not participate in fabric operations. This is different than the FC-AL architecture, where the NL_Ports are responsible for loop arbitration and routing.