Lenovo 8200 Series Installation Manual page 121

N_Port ID virtualization (NPIV)
The ability for a single physical Fibre Channel
end point (N_Port) to support multiple, uniquely
addressable, logical end points. With NPIV, a
host Fibre Channel adapter is shared in such a
way that each virtual adapter is assigned to a
virtual server and is separately identifiable
within the fabric. Connectivity and access privi-
leges within the fabric are controlled by identifi-
cation of each virtual adapter and, hence, the
virtual server using each virtual adapter.
Nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM)
A type of memory that retains data (configura-
tion settings) even when power is removed. You
can manually configure NVRAM settings or
restore them from a file.
path
A path to a device is a combination of an
adapter port instance and a target port as
distinct from internal paths in the fabric network.
A fabric network appears to the operating
system as an opaque network between the
adapter (initiator) and the target.
path (continued)
Because a path is a combination of an adapter
and a target port, it is distinct from another path
if it is accessed through a different adapter or it
is accessing a different target port. Conse-
quently, when switching from one path to
another, the driver might be selecting a different
adapter (initiator), a different target port, or both.
This is important to the driver when selecting
the proper method of failover notification. It can
make a difference to the target device, which
might have to take different actions when
receiving retries of the request from another
initiator or on a different port.
PCIe (PCI Express)
A third-generation input/output (I/O) standard
that allows enhanced Ethernet network perfor-
mance beyond that of the older peripheral
component interconnect (PCI) and PCI
extended (PCI-x) desktop and server slots.
port
Access points in a device where a link attaches.
The most common port types are:
• N_Port is a Fibre Channel device port that
supports point-to-point topology.
8200 Series Converged Network Adapter and 3200 Series Intelligent Ethernet Adapter
• NL_Port is a Fibre Channel device port that
supports loop topology.
• F_Port is a port in a fabric where an N_Port
can attach.
• FL_Port is a port in a fabric where an
NL_Port can attach.
port instance
The number of the port in the system. Each
adapter may have one or multiple ports, identi-
fied with regard to the adapter as port 0, port 1
and so forth. To avoid confusion when dealing
with a system containing numerous ports, each
port is assigned a port instance number when
the system boots up. So port 0 on an adapter
might have a port instance number of 8 if it is
the eighth port discovered by the system.
quality of service (QoS)
Methods used to prevent bottlenecks and
ensure business continuity when transmitting
data over virtual ports by setting priorities and
allocating bandwidth.
redundant array of independent/inexpensive
disks (RAID)
Fault-tolerant disks that look like either single or
multiple volumes to the server.
small computer systems interface (SCSI)
The original SCSI specification was a hardware
bus specification and a packet-oriented protocol
specification for communicating on that bus.
SCSI over Fibre Channel uses the
packet-oriented protocol to communicate with
storage devices on the Fibre Channel.
storage area network (SAN)
Multiple storage units (disk drives) and servers
connected by networking topology.
target
The storage-device endpoint of a SCSI session.
Initiators request data from targets (usually
disk-drives, tape-drives, or other media
devices). Typically, a SCSI peripheral device is
the target but an adapter may, in some cases,
be a target. A target can contain many LUNs.
A target is a device that responds to a request
by an initiator (the host system). Peripherals are
targets, but for some commands (for example, a
SCSI COPY command), the peripheral may act
as an initiator.
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