Setting the fabric switch, Fibre channel topology, Example of fc-al and point-to-point topology – HP XP Racks User Manual
Page 169: Configuring hosts, Setting the fabric switch fibre channel topology
Setting the fabric switch
The Storage Administrator (Provisioning) role is required to perform this task.
When you configure your storage system, specify whether the hosts and the storage system are
connected via a fabric switch.
1.
In the Storage Systems tree, click Ports/Host Groups.
2.
In the Ports/Host Groups window, select the Ports tab.
3.
Select the desired port.
4.
Click Edit Ports.
5.
Select a check box of Fabric, and select ON if you set the fabric switch. If you do not set the
fabric switch, select OFF.
6.
Click Finish.
7.
In the Confirm window, confirm the settings, in Task Name type a unique name for this task
or accept the default, and then click Apply.
If Go to tasks window for status is checked, the Tasks window opens.
Fibre channel topology
The term fibre channel topology indicates how devices are connected to each other. Fibre channel
provides the following types of topology:
•
Fabric: Uses a fabric switch to connect a large number of devices (up to 16 million) together.
Each device will have the full bandwidth of 100 MBps.
•
FC-AL (Fibre Channel-Arbitrated Loop): A shared interface that can connect up to 126 devices
(AL-ports) together. The full-duplex data transfer rate of 100-MBps bandwidth is shared among
the devices connected to each other.
•
Point-to-point: The simplest fibre topology connects two devices directly together.
When configuring your storage system, use the LUN Manager window to specify whether the hosts
and the storage system are connected using a fabric switch (see
“Example of FC-AL and point-to-point
).
If a fabric switch is used, specify FC-AL or point-to-point in the LUN Manager window. FC-AL is
the default. If a fabric switch is used, consult the documentation for the fabric switch to learn whether
FC-AL or point-to-point should be used. Some fabric switches require you to specify point-to-point
to get the system running.
If no fabric switch is used, specify FC-AL.
Example of FC-AL and point-to-point topology
Configuring hosts
You can configure hosts in your storage system. You can also modify the host configuration with
LUN Manager when the system is in operation.
Configuring hosts
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