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Fibre
Channel : Point-to-Point
Fibre
Channel (FC) architecture offers three topologies for
network design: point-to-point, Arbitrated Loop, and Switched
Fabric. All are based on high throughput speeds, with
effective 100MB per second throughput in half-duplex mode
and up to 200 megabyte in full duplex mode.
Point-to-point
is a simple dedicated connection between two devices,
such as a server and a storage system. In this usage,
Fibre Channel is similar to SCSI or other high-speed peripheral
interfaces. Point-to-point would primarily be used for
minimal server to storage configurations.
Point-to-point cabling can utilise either copper or optical
interfaces and would typically run directly from one device
to another without an intervening hub or router. Using
a subset of Fibre Channel protocol between the two devices
in a similar manner to SCSI, in this environment the FC
interface simply offers a fast and reliable connection.
It is possible to add additional devices to the point-to-point
set-up and extend the point-to-point cabling scheme, but
since the media is no longer under the exclusive control
of two nodes, Arbitrated Loop protocol must be used to
negotiate access.
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