San Routing Hierarchy - McDATA StorageWorks 2/140 - Director Switch Planning Manual

• Tier 2 - To connect SAN islands without physically merging the
fabrics, the second tier consists of metropolitan storage area
networks (mSANs). SAN routers connect fabrics within a data
center or campus to form an mSAN and transmit data between
fabrics through router ports (R_Ports). Refer to
additional information.
• Tier 3 - To connect geographically remote fabrics or mSANs, the
third tier consists of internetworked storage area networks
(iSANs). SAN routers transmit data between mSANs through
intelligent ports, using Internet Fibre Channel protocol (iFCP).
Refer to

SAN Routing Hierarchy

Figure 4-2
R_Port technology enables inter-fabric SAN routing within a data
center or limited geographic area to create mSANs, while iFCP
inter-router links (IRLs) connect distributed, extended-distance Fibre
Channel fabrics to create an iSAN. In addition, high-availability SAN
routers are connected with IRLs using metropolitan Fibre Channel
protocol (mFCP).
iSAN Routing for additional information.
Figure 4-3 illustrates these concepts.
Implementing SAN Internetworking Solutions
Implementing SAN Internetworking Solutions
mSAN Routing
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