{"id":6077,"date":"2020-12-26T13:51:59","date_gmt":"2020-12-26T11:51:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/?p=6077"},"modified":"2020-12-26T13:55:58","modified_gmt":"2020-12-26T11:55:58","slug":"fibre-channel-switch-fc-switch-a-tech-definition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/fibre-channel-switch-fc-switch-a-tech-definition\/","title":{"rendered":"Fibre Channel switch (FC switch)-a tech definition"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time-approximately:<\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

A Fibre Channel switch is a networking device that is compatible with the\u00a0FC\u00a0protocol and designed for use in a dedicated storage area network (SAN<\/a>).<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Posted by:\u00a0Margaret Rouse<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WhatIs.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contributor(s):\u00a0Carol Sliwa;\u00a0Brien Posey<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An FC switch inspects a data packet header, determines the computing devices of origin and destination and forwards the packet to the intended system. FC switches come in different types including modular director switches, also known as backbone switches, with a high port count and fixed-port or semi-modular switches, also known as edge switches. FC switches can be combined to create large SAN fabrics that interconnect thousands of servers and storage ports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An FC switch is designed for high-performance, low-latency,\u00a0high-availability\u00a0and lossless data transmission. Director-class FC switches can add capabilities, such as encryption and zoning, to disable unwanted traffic.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

How a Fibre Channel switch works<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As previously noted, FC networks are specifically designed to connect hosts, or servers, to storage devices. This can be accomplished without the use of an FC switch. FC supports point-to-point connections in which a server’s FC\u00a0host bus adapter<\/a>\u00a0is physically connected directly to a storage device, thereby allowing the host to access the attached storage directly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although a point-to-point architecture might be desirable in certain situations, the architecture doesn’t scale well, because every host would require a direct connection to any storage device that it could conceivably need to access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Fibre
Each interconnection type in the switched fabric topology requires a different number of Fibre Channel switches.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

An FC switch addresses this problem by acting as an intermediary between servers and storage. Servers are provided with a physical link to an FC switch, rather than being\u00a0attached directly to storage devices. Likewise, storage devices are also attached to the switch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a server needs to access a storage device, the FC switch directs the request to the appropriate storage device.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Benefits of a Fibre Channel switch<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n