At a Glance

Following is a chapter-by-chapter glance at this book:

Chapter 1 ” This chapter discusses limitations of current mass storage architectures, explains how Fibre Channel answers these limitations, and defines basic terms and topologies.

Chapter 2 ” This chapter details the functional levels of Fibre Channel, emphasizing physical components . There are six levels, three are port levels and three are node levels.

Chapter 3 ” This chapter discusses the features and operations of the Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL), and explains how FC-AL is a very effective topology for mass storage. Hewlett-Packard has a commitment to this topology, as evidenced by its Fibre Channel hub product. This chapter will familiarize the reader with the characteristics, operations, and advantages of FC-AL.

Chapter 4 ” This chapter explains why Fibre Channel is a fast, flexible technology that enables a large number of devices to communicate. This chapter describes in detail Peripheral Device, Logical Unit, and Volume Set addressing, which is unique to Hewlett-Packard's HP-UX Operating System environment.

Chapter 5 ” This chapter presents an overview of the Hewlett-Packard's Fibre Channel products, describes the systems that support Fibre Channel, and discusses how the products work together.

Chapter 6 ” This chapter discusses the future developments and improvements to Fibre Channel and how to get more information. This chapter familiarizes the reader with some of the capabilities that may become available in the near future.