Sun Microsystems Fire 880, Owner'S Manual

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Chapter 4 Mass Storage Subsystem Configuration 99
About FC-AL Host Adapters
The Sun Fire 880 server uses a Qlogic ISP2200A intelligent Fibre Channel processor
as its on-board FC-AL controller. Integrated into the system motherboard, the
ISP2200A resides on PCI Bus A and supports a 64-bit, 66-MHz PCI interface. The
on-board FC-AL controller controls FC-AL operations on Loop A of the base
backplane (and the upper backplane when the two are joined as an expanded array).
To take advantage of the dual-loop capability of the FC-AL backplanes, an optional
PCI FC-AL host adapter card is required to control the second loop (Loop B). For
this purpose, Sun offers the Sun StorEdge PCI Dual Fibre Channel Host Adapter
card. This card provides two separate FC-AL channels, each controlled by a Qlogic
ISP2200A processor. Each channel provides an external port for connection to
external Fibre Channel devices. One of the channels also provides an internal port
for connection to the Loop B port on the base FC-AL disk backplane. If the internal
port is used, external Port 1 is unavailable for connection to external devices.
A variety of PCI FC-AL host adapter cards are available from Sun Microsystems and
other vendors for controlling external FC-AL devices. These include dual-channel
cards and combination cards. Dual-channel cards contain two FC-AL controllers for
controlling two separate loops with a single card. Combination cards combine an
FC-AL controller with a controller of another type (for example, a Gigabit Ethernet
controller). For more information, see the documentation supplied with the host
adapter card.
ISP
ISP
SES
SES
SES
SES
ISP
Motherboard
Expansion Backplane
Base Backplane
Loop A
Loop B
Sun StorEdge PCI
Dual Fibre Channel
Host Adapter Card