Fibre Channel Storage Area Network- An Overview
Fibre Channel- Architecture, Layers, Topologies, Advantages, Conclusion
What is Fibre Channel?
Fibre Channel is a rapid network technology help to connect servers to data storage area networks. It is primarily used for transmitting data among data centres, computer servers, switches and storage at data rates of up to 128 Gb/s. Fibre Channel technology handles high-performance disk storage for applications on many corporate networks and it supports data backups, clustering and replication.
It supports several common transport protocols like Internet Protocol (IP) and Small Computer System Interface (SCSI).
Fibre Channel devices can be driven up to 6.2 miles (10 Kilometers).
Fibre Channel Architecture
Fibre Channel transfers digital data between sources and users of knowledge.
This digital data represent different types of data like programs, files, graphics, video and audio.
Each having its own structure, protocol, connectivity, measures of performance and reliability requirements.
Fibre Channel layers
Fibre Channel defines layers of communication similar to but different from, the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model. Like the OSI model, Fibre Channel splits the process of network communication into layers or groups of related functions. Fibre Channel has five layers:
- Upper Layer Protocol Mapping: FC Layer 4
- Common Services Layer: FC Layer 3
- Signalling/Framing Layer: FC Layer 2
- Transmission Layer: FC Layer 1
- Physical Layer: FC Layer 0
Reference: https://searchstorage.techtarget.com/definition/Fibre-Channel
Fibre Channel Topologies
There are three topologies for Fibre Channel:
Point-to-point: Where two-node ports have the same signalling rate and a class of service.
Switched: Where 16 million node ports are often interconnected.
Loop: Organizes up to 127 Fibre Channel ports on a hoop, and distributes the routing functions among them. It is used more than the switched topology. It also costs less than switched topology.
What is Fibre Channel Storage area Network?
A Fibre Channel Storage-Area-Network (SAN) could also be a specialized, high-speed network that attaches servers and storage devices. With a SAN, you’ll create an any-to-any connection across the network with interconnected elements like routers, gateways, and switches.
Using a SAN can eliminate the connection between a server, storage, and therefore the concept that the server effectively owns and manages the storage devices.
The SAN also eliminates any restriction on the quantity of knowledge that a server can access. This restriction is restricted by the number of storage devices which will be attached to the individual server. Instead, a SAN introduces the pliability of networking to enable one server or many heterogeneous servers to share a typical storage utility. This might comprise many storage devices, including disk, tape, and optical storage. you’ll also locate the storage utility far away from the servers that use it.
Advantages of Fibre Channel SAN
- Accelerate backup and restore
- Improve business continuance
- Boost high availability (HA)
- Foster storage consolidation
Foster Storage Consolidation: There are many technical and business advantages to consolidating servers and storage with SANs. A SAN infrastructure enables any-to-any connectivity between heterogeneous server and storage systems. This allows far more efficient use of storage and server resources by consolidating cosmopolitan or underutilized resources into centrally managed environments, and provides the subsequent benefits:
- Increased utilization of existing storage
- Decreased storage capital expenditures by enabling the purchase of storage on an “as-needed” basis
- Increased administrative staff productivity: Manage more storage with fewer personnel
- Reduced application downtime and minimized business impact for storage upgrades
- Simplified storage management with centralized storage and server platforms
Conclusion
- Fibre Channel is a high-speed peripheral transmission technology used in networks.
- With a transmission rate of 100MB/sec and with a full-duplex flow of transmission.
- It is defined by five layers which are FC-0, FC-1, FC-2, FC-3, and FC-4, and they define the media, transmission rates, coding/encoding, framing, flow, and protocols supported.
- And when compared to the Ethernet and ATM technologies it is the best.
- Experts agree that Fibre Channel is the first technology with the potential to move the data communications industry into a low-cost-of-ownership, commodity phase