Fibre Channel is designed to incorporate features of both channel and network architectures:
Like a network, Fibre Channel is designed to dynamically adjust to changing environments that contain many devices. Although Fibre Channel is a network, storage networks are generally somewhat simpler and more “stable” than data networks (such as the Internet). Therefore, Fibre Channel compromises between flexibility and efficiency in order to minimize end-to-end latency Fibre Channel uses a serial architecture that supports high speeds and long distances.
Fibre Channel HBAs incorporate application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) that perform delivery management services, minimizing host CPU load and delivery delay.