FC0054606-00 A Glossary-3
Fibre Channel Adapter for VMware ESX User’s Guide
A
E_Port
Expansion port. A port in an FC switch that
connects to another FC switch or bridge
device by an inter-switch link. E_Ports are
used to link FC switches to form a
multi-switch fabric.
F_Port
The “Fabric” port in a FC fabric switch
provides a point-to-point link attachment to
a single N_Port. F_Ports are intermediate
ports in virtual point-to-point links between
end ports, for example N_Port to F_Port to
F_Port to N_Port using a single FC fabric
switch.
fabric
A fabric consists of cross-connected FC
devices and switches.
fabric switch
Also, switched fabric. A fabric switch
connects multiple devices from indepen-
dent FC-arbitrated loops (FC-ALs) and
point-to-point topologies into a fabric using
FC switches.
Fast!UTIL
QLogic Fast!UTIL FC adapter BIOS utility.
FCode
A type of boot code for Sun's SPARC
platforms. See boot code and Flash.
FC
Fibre Channel is a high-speed serial inter-
face technology that supports other higher
layer protocols such as SCSI and IP.
FDMI
Fabric device management interface is a
standard enabling the management of
devices such as adapters through the
fabric.
FL_Port
Fabric loop port. In an FC, the fabric switch
is capable of FC Arbitrated Loop opera-
tions and is connected to one or more
NL_Ports by an FC Arbitrated Loop. An
FL_Port becomes a shared entry point for
public NL_Port devices to an FC fabric.
FL_Ports are intermediate ports in virtual
point-to-point links between end ports that
do not reside on the same loop, for
example NL_Port to FL_Port to F_Port to
N_Port through a single FC fabric switch.
Flash
Nonvolatile memory holding the boot code.
At times, Flash and boot code are used
interchangeably. (See boot code)
G_Port
Generic port. A port that can operate as
either an E_Port or an F_Port. A G_Port
can determine operating mode at switch
port initialization, F_Port when an N_Port
attachment is determined, E_Port when an
E_Port attachment is determined. See
E_Port, F_Port, FL_Port, L_Port, N_Port
(Node Port), NL_Port (Node Loop Port)
HBA
Host bus adapter. See adapter.
HBA port
A port on the adapter board.
HBA port beacon
An LED on the adapter. Flashing it enables
you to locate the adapter.
ioctl
Input/output control. A system call in
Unix/Linux systems. Allows an application
to control or communicate with a device
driver outside usual read/write operations.
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