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Planning Considerations for Fibre Channel Topologies
3
Obtaining
Professional
Services
Mixed Fabric Design Considerations
McDATA Products in a SAN Environment - Planning Manual
3-40
A scalable fabric allows for nondisruptive addition of fabric elements
(directors, fabric switches, and SAN routers) or ISLs to increase the
size or performance of the fabric or SAN. Large, scalable fabrics and
SANs are constructed by incorporating:
•
High-port count directors - Installing high-port count directors as
SAN building blocks provides a larger number of non-blocking
Fibre Channel ports per fabric element and reduces the need for
ISLs. Newer products support high-bandwidth (10.2000 Gbps)
ISLs that also reduce the fabric ISL count. In addition, fabrics and
sub-fabrics can be merged or maintained as separate entities
through dynamic partitioning. Refer to
Considerations
and
Inter-FlexPar Routing
•
SAN routers - Installing SAN routers provides interoperable
E_Port connectivity between local SAN fabrics. However, SAN
routers terminate the E_Port connection at each SAN edge. This
allows devices in each SAN to communicate through the router,
but preserves the autonomy of each local SAN. Refer to
Operation
and
Inter-FlexPar Routing
Scalability also relates to investment protection. If a core fabric switch
is replaced with a newer or higher port count switch (such as the
Intrepid 10000 Director), it is often valuable to use the existing switch
elsewhere in the fabric (at the edge).
Planning and implementing a multiswitch fabric topology can be a
complex and difficult task. Obtain planning assistance from
McDATA's professional services organization before implementing a
fabric topology.
This section discusses mixed fabric design considerations, including:
•
Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP) and FICON environments in a
single fabric.
•
Multiple data transmission speeds (1.0625, 2.1250, and 10.2000
Gbps) in a single fabric.
General Fabric Design
for information.
R_Port
for information.
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