Core-To-Edge Fabric - HP 316095-B21 - StorageWorks Edge Switch 2/24 Planning Manual

A modified or partial-mesh fabric is similar to a full-mesh fabric, but each switch
does not have to be directly connected to every other switch in the fabric. The
fabric is still resilient to failure but does not carry a cost premium for unused or
redundant ISLs. In addition, partial-mesh fabrics scale easier than full-mesh
fabrics.
Partial-mesh fabrics are useful when designing a SAN backbone for which traffic
patterns between SAN islands connected to the backbone are well known. If
heavy traffic is expected between a pair of switches, the switches are connected
through at least one ISL; if minimal traffic is expected, the switches are not
connected.
In general, mesh fabrics can be difficult to scale without downtime. The addition
of directors or switches usually involves disconnecting fabric devices and may
involve disconnecting in-place ISLs. As a result, full or partial-mesh fabrics are
recommended for networks that change infrequently or have well-established
traffic patterns.

Core-to-Edge Fabric

A core-to-edge fabric consists of one or more Fibre Channel directors or switches
acting as core elements that are dedicated to connecting other directors and
switches (edge elements) in the fabric. Core directors act as high-bandwidth
routers with connectivity to edge fabric elements.
core-to-edge fabric topology with two core directors and fourteen edge directors
and switches (2-by-14 topology).
SAN High Availability Planning Guide
Planning Considerations for Fibre Channel Topologies
Figure 39 illustrates the
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