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fcports

FC Ports

There are different kinds of Fiber Channel ports. This is an overview.

E_Port

An E_Port is an expansion port. A port is designated an E_Port when it is used as an interswitch expansion port to connect to the E_Port of another switch, to build a larger switched fabric. These ports are found in Fiber Channel switched fabrics and are used to interconnect the individual switch or routing elements. They are not the source or destination of IUs, but instead function like the F_Ports and FL_Ports to relay the IUs from one switch or routing elements to another. E_Ports can only attach to other E_Ports. An Isolated E_Port is a port that is online but not operational between switches due to overlapping domain ID or nonidentical parameters.

F_Port

An F_Port is a fabric port that is not loop capable. Used to connect an N_Port to a switch. These ports are found in Fiber Channel switched fabrics. They are not the source or destination of IUs, but instead function only as a “middle-man” to relay the IUs from the sender to the receiver. F_Ports can only be attached to N_Ports.

FL_Port

An FL_Port is a fabric port that is loop capable. Used to connect NL_Ports to the switch in a loop configuration. These ports are just like the F_Ports described above, except that they connect to an FC-AL topology. FL_Ports can only attach to NL_Ports.

G_Port

A G_Port is a generic port that can operate as either an E_Port or an F_Port. A port is defined as a G_Port when it is not yet connected or has not yet assumed a specific function in the fabric.

L_Port

An L_Port is a loop capable fabric port or node. This is a basic port in a Fiber Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) topology. If an N_Port is operating on a loop it is referred to as an NL_Port. If a fabric port is on a loop it is known as an FL_Port. To draw the distinction, throughout this book we will always qualify L_Ports as either NL_Ports or FL_Ports.

N_Port

N_Port is a node port that is not loop capable. Used to connect an equipment port to the fabric. These ports are found in Fiber Channel nodes, which are defined to be the source or destination of information units (IU). I/O devices and host systems interconnected in point-to-point or switched topologies use N_Ports for their connection. N_Ports can only attach to other N_Ports or to F_Ports.

NL_Port

An NL_Port is a node port that is loop capable. Used to connect an equipment port to the fabric in a loop configuration through an FL_Port. These ports are just like the N_Port described above, except that they connect to a Fiber Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) topology. NL_Ports can only attach to other NL_Ports or to FL_Ports.

U_Port

U_Port is a universal port. A generic switch port that can operate as either an E_Port, F_Port, or FL_Port. A port is defined as a U_Port when it is not connected or has not yet assumed a specific function in the fabric.

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fcports.txt · Last modified: 2021/09/24 00:24 (external edit)