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WARNING
Lasers can be hazardous and may cause permanent eye damage or blindness, and
therefore must be treated with respect and used with caution. Never look directly at
lasers while it is turned on.
Auto speed detection
Speed auto-detection is specified by the Fibre Channel standard. If a 16Gbps port is
connected to an 8Gbps port, it will negotiate down and run at 8Gbps. If there are
16Gbps ports on both ends of the link, the link will run at 16Gbps.
SFP / SFP+ transceivers
An SFP transceiver converts electrical data signals into light signals and transfers them
transparently via optical fiber. A transceiver provides bi-directional data links, a laser
transmitter (for fiber optic cables), LC connector, and a metal enclosure to lower the EMI.
Other beneficial features of a typical SFP transceiver include a single power supply, low
power dissipation, and hot-swap capability. It is also important that any transceiver you use
meets the FC performance and reliability specifications.
WARNING
The SFP transceiver contains a laser diode featuring class 1 laser. To ensure
continued safety, do not remove any covers or attempt to gain access to the inside of
the product. Refer all servicing to qualified personnel.
FC port dust plugs
Each FC port comes with a dust plug. Remove these dust plugs only when you are ready to
insert an SFP transceiver.
Please contact your vendor for a list of compatible components.
Fibre-Host Topologies
The Fibre Channel standard supports three (3) separate topologies. They are point-to-
point, Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL), and fabric switch topologies.
Point-to-Point: Point-to-point topology is the simplest topology. It is a direct connection
between two (2) Fibre Channel devices.
FC-AL: This is the most common topology currently in use. Fibre Channel devices are all
connected to a loop. Each device is assigned an arbitrated loop physical address (AL_PA).
The FC-AL supports 124 devices in a single loop.
Fabric: The fabric topology supports up to 224 Fibre Channel devices.
This topology allows multiple devices to communicate simultaneously. A Fibre switch is
required to implement this topology.
NOTE
If a logical drive has to be accessed by different servers, file locking, FC switch
zoning, port binding, and multipath access control will be necessary.
