Building SANs with Brocade Fabric Switches
This reference functions as a set of instructions for actual SAN implementation and teaches how a well-crafted SAN can reward your organization.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Building SANs with Brocade Fabric Switches
Bridging and Routing to IP Networks and Beyond
As Fibre Channel expands from just a few machines and storage to much larger networks, interoperability and connectivity are becoming much more important. Routers and bridges are starting to be used to take Fibre Channel traffic and send it across regional and wide area networks, as well as for remote backup and IP traffic.
Fibre Channel to DWDM
Fibre Channel-to-DWDM technology is beginning to be used to help extend the distances of SAN operation. Fibre Channel-to-DWDM equipment operates by multiplexing Fibre Channel optical signals onto a higher wavelength fiber. Typically, a single switch E_Port is connected to DWDM equipment, which multiplexes the Fibre Channel signal to a remote DWDM port. On the other side, a DWDM multiplexer is connected to a remote SAN where the frame is sent out through a switch E_Port back into the network. To the Fibre Channel switch, the existence of a DWDM link is almost transparent no change occurs to the protocol, information is received at full speed, and there is no indication that a frame went over a long-distance link. However, because of distance and the speed of packets of light, switches do need to be configured for more available frame buffers between the two switch links connected by the DWDM equipment. Fibre Channel-to-DWDM equipment is used primarily for regional transport, because of the distance limitation of Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs).
Using DWDM has many advantages for Fibre Channel. The first is extending the distance limitation of...
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