SAN讲义SAN拓扑光纤通道资料.pptVIP

* In the beginning, there were the channel and the network. Channels were special closed and structured buses yielding high performance, reliability, large data transfers--and doing all this with little software involvement. Networks, on the other hand, were open, unstructured, and almost unpredictable. In networks, error-free performance was secondary and operations were software intensive. But, networks had unending flexibility, connectivity, distance, and protocol multiplexing. * Fibre Channel is a natural extension and synthesis of channels and networks. Designers saw that they could reduce hardware costs, system size, and complexity, by combining what had been two (or more) separate Input/Output interfaces (SCSI IP) into one. Fibre Channel uses the best features of both channel and networks. Now there are a family of ANSI technical standards, a set of interoperable technology profiles, and numerous vendors producing profile-compliant products. * Topology is a word borrowed from mathematics and used here to describe the way the nodes on a network are connected. In our case, the network nodes are servers and storage systems and SAN interconnect devices. SAN technology supports three basic topologies: point-to-point, arbitrated loop, and switched fabric. Point-to-point is a simple topology that allows bi-directional communication between two nodes, in this case a storage system and a server. Point-to-point, like all SAN topologies, benefit from the long reach possible with Fiber Optic connections. The arbitrated loop is a ring topology where each node passes data to adjacent nodes. Like a Token Ring LAN, the SAN hub arbitrates requests for data to make optimum use of the available bandwidth. Switched fabric is a SAN term used to describe extensive storage networks where large numbers of servers and storage systems are connected using Fiber Optic switches. Switches can be cascaded and combined with loops to create highly interwoven networks known as fabrics