• Nodes are endpoint devices in a Fibre Channel SAN, the source or destination of data: –Servers –Storage devices
• Nodes communicate with other Nodes via Ports Nodes
Tape device Server Switch Storage
Servers and storage devices are called nodes: Nodes present the data to the Fibre Channel network. The node does not know whether it is attached to a SCSI bus or a Fibre Channel infrastructure.
Switches and hubs are not nodes: They are interconnect devices through which the data passes. The interconnect devices are transparent to the nodes.
Nodes communicate through ports. Ports will exist in the Host Bus Adapter, ports are in the FC switches, in the subsystem controllers and in the tape devices.
Ports communicate with other ports across a link – they understand Fibre Channel.