HP StorageWorks 4000/6000/8000 - Enterprise Virtual Arrays, Reference Manual

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Figure 4 ISL connections in a meshed fabric
.
Switch models
All HP Fibre Channel switches are supported for use in a meshed fabric topology. Meshed fabric
topologies typically use the SN6000 Fibre Channel Switch; the 8/20q Fibre Channel Switch (or the
HP Simple SAN Connectivity Kit); or SAN, Fabric, or Edge switches, which support smaller incremental
growth. To meet higher port-count requirements, use Core or Director switches.
Benefits
The benefits of a meshed fabric include:
• Ability to meet multiple data access needs
• Multiple paths for internal fabric resiliency
• Ease of scalability
• Shared backup and management support
• Support for a mix of local and distributed data access (see “ Topology data access ” on page 46)
• Less impact on performance due to intraswitch traffic
Ring fabric
A ring fabric is a ring of interconnected switches ( Figure 5 ). The ring fabric provides a similar level
of fabric resiliency as the meshed fabric and ensures full fabric connectivity with a minimum of two
paths for each switch.
The ring fabric enables you to:
• Scale the fabric in a modular fashion.
• Achieve optimum I/O performance by connecting a group of servers and storage to one switch.
SAN fabric topologies 40