Fibre Channel Concentrators/HUBs
Introduction
Fibre Channel is seen as an ideal medium to connect storage devices and
to do local networking. The Arbitrated Loop topology is a cheap way to
connect many devices together as no fabric is needed. But a physical loop
will be difficult to construct as it requires individual cables or special
T-connectors and it can be difficult to rewire. Also if power loss occurs
on a physical node, the loop often is broken. A solution to those problems
is to use a Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop concentrator, also called Hub.
In Fibre Channel terms, a Hub is a device which provides some or all
of the following functions:
-
Automatic insertion of operational loop devices without impacting the existing
FC-AL configuration
-
Automatic removal of failed loop devices without impacting the existing
FC-AL configuration
-
Provision of a centralized (star) wiring configuration and maintenance
point
-
Provision of central monitoring and management functions
Devices
The following Arbitrated Loop concentrator exists:
ATTO Technologies
ATTO AccelNet FC Fibre Channel hub serves as a high-speed, central connection
point for data sharing in Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) configurations.
The stackable, 5-port hub provides full duplex 1.0625 Gigabit performance
with 200 Mbyte/sec. transfer rates for I/O and data intensive workgroup
and enterprise environments.
Product Features
-
Five FC-AL Ports
-
ATTO FibreChaintm Expansion Ports for Daisy-Chaining Without
Using Fibre Channel Ports or IDs
-
ATTO Intelligent Port Management(tm) Detects Faults, Down System, Nodes,
MIA Failure, Power-Down of Devices, and Addition of New Nodes, and Dynamically
Reconfigures the Arbitrated Loop
-
MIA Compliant DB9 Connectors for both Copper and Optical Interfaces
-
Remote Device Management and Monitoring
-
Dual Power Jacks for Optional Redundant External Power Supplies
Contact: ATTO Technology - 6-Jan-1998
Emulex
Features
-
Supports Fibre Channel full speed 1.0625 Gb/s full duplex transfers
-
Automatic fault isolation and recovery, fault analysis, and performance
analysis and tuning
-
Remote programmability
-
Digital architecture eliminates all signal jitter and provides automatic
clock speed matching on every port
-
LIP F8 Bypass isolates faulty nodes allowing the loop to operate normally
-
Character integrity feature ensures that only valid Fibre Channel words
are forwarded through the hub
-
Available in 2 configurations:
-
10 port copper DB9
-
8 port GBIC (optic or copper) plus 2 copper DB9 ports
Features
-
Connect up to 5 Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) users
-
Maintain loop integrity by providing automatic bypass of unused and/or
non-powered ports
-
Connect multiple Mini Hubs to support additional nodes
-
Supports 5 loop connections on copper cables up to 30 meters
-
Supports full speed 1062.5 Mb/s full duplex transfers
-
Supports all fibre channel classes of service (1, 2, 3 and intermixed)
and all fibre channel protocol layers
Contact: USA: Bob Thomson, Emulex Corporation,
E-m: b_thomson@emulex.com, Tel: +1 714 662 5600, Fax: +1 714 513 8265
Europe: Alan Wallman, Emulex Europe, England, Tel: +44 118 977 2929,
Fax: +44 118 977 3237
and Jean-Marc Peuron, Emulex Europe, France, Tel: +33 1 4 191 1990,
Fax: +33 1 4 191 1999 - 24-Aug-1998
Gadzoox
The Gadzoox BitStrip combines the resiliency, economy and user-friendliness
of a central wiring hub with the performance advantages of 1.0625 gigabit
per second Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop networking. Hub connection ensures
resiliency, allowing users to disconnect nodes, add nodes, or power-off
nodes without causing the FC-AL network to fail. The Bitstrip automatically
detects and bypasses nonfunctional nodes and prevents non-Fibre Channel
devices from connecting to the operating Fibre Channel loop.
Features
-
Centralized wiring hub for 1.0625 gigabaud Fibre
-
Channel-Arbitrated Loop connections.
-
Automatically bypasses down nodes.
-
Preserves network availability.
-
Protects against catestrophic failures.
-
Auto-reconfigures loop on addition of a new node.
-
Allows for hot plugging onto the loop.
-
Preserves uptime during network configuration and maintenance.
-
Full duplex 1.0625 gigabit/second data transmission.
-
9 Copper Ports with DB-9 style connectors.
-
All ports support optical transmission through the use of industry standard
media interface adaptors (MIAs).
-
Cascadable to 126 FC-AL ports
-
Repeater per port removes line jitter.
-
Improves signal quality.
-
Preserves maximum cabling distances.
-
Half-Rack, low profile chassis.
-
Precise half-rack, 1U height design.
-
Rack Mountable
-
Single and dual (side-by-side) orientations supported.
Contact: Gadzoox, Tel: +1 (408) 399-4858;
Fax +1 (408) 399-4870; E-mail: info@gadzoox.com - 15-Apr-1997
Jaycor Networks Inc.
FibreStar FCH-1063 1063
Mbit/second Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop Hub
Contact: Jaycor Networks Inc - 23-July-1997
Prisa
Features
-
Supports full-speed 1.062 Gbit/s full duplex transfers.
-
Connect up to 10 arbitrated loop users with shortwave multimode fiber and/or
copper twinax cables.
-
Three configurations available:10 multimode fiber optic; 10 copper twinax
DE9; 8 fiber optic plus 2 copper DE9.
-
Maintain loop integrity by providing automatic bypass of unused and/or
nonpowered ports.
-
Repeater/retimer circuits extend total user-to-user distances.
-
Support for all Fibre Channel classes of service (1,2,3 and intermix).
-
Supports industry standard: 50/125 & 62.5/125 micron multimode fiber.
-
Dual SC (fiber) and/or DE9 (copper connectors). C
-
onnect multiple hubs to support up to 126 FC-AL devices.
-
Tabletop or rackmount configuration.
-
ANSI Fibre Channel FC-PH Rev. 4/FC-AL Rev. 4.5 compliant.
Contact: Prisa - 24-Jul-1997
Lextel
FC-2000
The FC-2000 is a 16-port Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop concentrator. It
allows convenient construction of a Fibre Channel loop by providing a centralized
point to which all loop devices are connected. Nor rewiring or rerouting
is necessary if more devices are added to or removed from the loop.
The FC-2000 can be cascaded up to eight times to allow a full 126 device
loop to be constructed. An optional optical expansion port can be used
to increase the distance between cascaded concentrators. This feature is
used in remote device clustering applications.
The FC-2000 concentrator can detect if a port device is missing or powered
off. In these cases, the port is automatically bypassed and loop connectivity
is maintained.
The FC-2000 also allows the port bypass primitive to control the port.
Manual switch control provides network administrators with a quick method
to diagnose loop problems.
Central management of the loop concentrator is provided through a serial
port. A variety of management options including SNMP are available over
this serial port.
Features
-
16-port Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop Concentrator
-
Provides centralized wiring hub for FC-AL devices
-
Cascadable to 126 NL_ports
-
Allows hot insertion and removal of loop devices and cascaded concentrators
-
Optional optical expansion port for clustering of remote devices
-
Supports Fibre Channel speeds up to 1.0625 GBaud
-
Flexible control options for the NL_Port devices
-
Front panel switches provide manual bypass
-
Cable detection circuit will bypass the port if a cable is not present
or inadvertently removed
-
Port bypass primitives enable or disable the port
-
NL_Port power loss causes the port to be bypassed
-
Optional serial communications port provides central control to all cascaded
ports
-
Optional SNMP support
-
LEDs provide visual indication of port status
-
Auto-ranging power supply supports 110-240 V
-
Rack mounting or table top enclosure
Contact: Norm Bagley, Lextel, Inc., P.O. Box 306, Wakefield, MA 01880,
USA, Tel: +1 (617)245-5017, Fax: +1 (617) 245-6369
Transoft
The 9 port Fibre Channel hub can support nine users and/or storage devices
and provides routing to all FC devices and users. - 15-Apr-1997
Contact: Transoft Technology Corporation
(Transoft)
Vixel CORPORATION
Contact: Vixel - 7-Jan-1998
CERN - High Speed Interconnect
- S-LINK
Erik van der Bij - 24
August 1998 - Disclaimer