IBM RedBooks SAN24B-5, Installation, Service And User Manual

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Chapter 1. Introducing the SAN24B-5
The IBM System Networking SAN24B-5 is a 24-port auto-sensing 2, 4, 8, or 16
Gbps switch for Fibre Channel Storage Area Networks (SANs). The SAN24B-5 is a
small-to-midsize business-class switch that is designed to handle the smaller-scale
SAN requirements.
The switch's 24 ports in a one rack-unit (1U) height enable the creation of very
dense fabrics in a relatively small space.
The SAN24B-5 offers either 12 or 24 ports.. Base models of the switch contain 12
ports, and an additional 12-port port activation license can also be ordered. The
base model also offers a single power supply and fan module with a second
module available as an upgrade for redundancy.
The SAN24B-5 supplies Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability (RAS)
performance and scalability requirements of an business-class switch along with
interoperability and ease-of-use advantages.
The switch can also be configured in Access Gateway mode that lets you configure
your Enterprise fabric to handle additional N_Ports instead of domains. By
reducing the number of domain IDs and ports you simplify configuration and
management in a large fabric. Switches in AG mode are logically transparent to the
host and the fabric. You can increase the number of hosts that have access to the
fabric without increasing the number of switches.
This chapter provides the following information:
v
“Switch features”
v “Switch components” on page 2
v
“Port side of the switch” on page 3
v “Nonport side of the switch” on page 3
Switch features
The SAN24B-5 offers the following features and capabilities:
v
Up to 24 auto-sensing ports of high-performance 16 Gbps technology in a single
domain
v Ports on Demand scaling from 12 to 24 ports
v
2, 4, 8, and 16 Gbps auto-sensing Fibre Channel switch and router ports
– 2, 4, and 8 Gbps performance is enabled by 8 Gbps SFP+ transceivers
– 4, 8, and 16 Gbps performance is enabled by 16 Gbps SFP+ transceivers
v Universal ports self-configure as E, F, M, or D ports. EX_Ports can be activated
on a per port basis with the optional Integrated Routing license. D-port
functionality is also available for diagnostics.
v Inter-Switch Link (ISL) Trunking (licensable), which allows up to eight ports (at
2, 4, 8, or 16 Gbps speeds) between a pair of switches combined to form a single,
logical ISL with a speed of up to 128 Gbps (256 Gbps full duplex) for optimal
bandwidth utilization and load balancing. The base model permits one
eight-port trunk plus one four-port trunk.
© Copyright IBM Corp. 2012
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