Table of Contents
Advertisement
Glossary
adapter
The board that interfaces between the
host system and the target devices.
Adapter is synonymous with Host Bus
Adapter, host adapter, and board.
adapter port
A port on the adapter board.
alternative routing-ID interpretation (ARI)
The PCI-SIG ARI provides a mechanism
for a single PCIe device to support up to
256 physical functions (PFs). Current OS's
allow up to 16 PFs (per device) to be used
with ARI enabled in the system BIOS, and
up to 8 PFs (per device) to be used when
ARI is disabled.
basic input output system (BIOS)
The program (or utility) that serves as an
interface between the hardware and the
operating system, and allows booting from
the adapter at startup.
data center bridging (DCB)
Provides enhancements to existing 802.1
bridge specifications to satisfy the require-
ments of protocols and applications in the
data center. Because existing high-perfor-
mance data centers typically comprise
multiple application-specific networks that
run on different link layer technologies
(Fibre Channel for storage and Ethernet
for network management and LAN
connectivity), DCB enables 802.1 bridges
to be used for the deployment of a
converged network where all applications
can be run over a single physical infra-
structure.
data center bridging exchange (DCBX)
A protocol used by DCB devices to
exchange configuration information with
directly connected peers. The protocol
may also be used for misconfiguration
detection and for configuration of the peer.
device
A computer subsystem, such as an
adapter card, that mediates data in a
computer network. The term device is
used interchangeably with target and
target device.
driver
The software that interfaces between the
file system and a physical data storage
device or network media.
78
BC0154503-00 B
Advertisement
Table of Contents
