Dell PowerVault 50F (Fibre Channel Switch) - Manual (Page 22)

PowerVault™ 50F Topologies: Dell™ PowerVault™ 50F 8-Port Fibre Channel Switch Installation and Troubleshooting Guide
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Figure 2-6 shows a four-switch topology that adds additional paths to the Fabric topology, increasing the
Fabric's reliability, bandwidth, fault tolerance, and connections.
Figure 2-6. Four-Switch Fabric Topology Sample
For example, the shortest path between switch A and switch D would be the direct path AD. If this path were
to fail, the connection would then be automatically routed through either switch B or C with a path of ABD or
ACD.
In Figure 2-6, ports 6 and 7 on the interface module in position 4 of switch A are used for connection to
switch B and switch D. If the interface module failed, traffic to switch B, C, and D would all have to be
rerouted between the interface modules in the third position on switches A and C.
A more robust solution is to have all connections distributed across available interface cards in each switch,
giving an alternate configuration as shown in Figure 2-7.
Figure 2-7. Four-Switch Fabric Topology Sample
If bandwidth or fault tolerance is a concern, each of the paths shown in Figure 2-7 could have a parallel
connection.