Fibre channel fabric – Apple Xsan 1.4 User Manual
Page 35
Chapter 2
Setting Up a Storage Area Network
35
Fibre Channel Fabric
Unlike file system metadata, which controllers and clients exchange over Ethernet,
actual file content in an Xsan SAN is transferred over Fibre Channel connections (as is
metadata that controllers access on a volume). To set up the connections, you need:
 Apple Fibre Channel PCI, PCI-X, or PCI-E cards for each client and controller computer
 One or more supported Fibre Channel switches
 Fibre Channel cables connecting computers and storage devices to the switches to
form a Fibre Channel fabric
Fibre Channel PCI Cards
Install Apple Fibre Channel PCI, PCI-X, or PCI-E cards in all Macintosh computers that
will connect to the SAN.
Fibre Channel Switches
The following Fibre Channel switches have been tested with Xsan, Xserve RAID
systems, and the Apple Fibre Channel PCI, PCI-X, and PCI-E cards:
 Brocade Silkworm 3200, 3800, 3900, and 12000 series
 QLogic SANbox 2–8, SANbox 2–16, SANbox 2–64, SANbox 1400, and SANbox 5200
 Emulex SAN Switch 355, 375, and 9200
 Cisco MDS 9000 family
For the latest additions to this list of qualified switches, see the Xsan webpages at
www.apple.com/xsan/.