Fibre Channel

• Type: Serial, high-speed network
• Purpose: Connects a computer to multiple input/output devices
• Data transfer rates:
  • From 100 Mbps to 800 Mbps on a single link
  • Up to 200 Mbps to 1600 Mbps per link
• Device interconnection: Supports up to 126 devices
• Link:
  • Full-duplex with two fibers per link inside a Fiber-Optic Cable
  • Support for distances up to 10 km
  • Can also be used on Twisted Pair Wire as Ethernet
• Features:
  • Small connectors
  • High-capacity utilization with distance insensitivity
  • Greater connectivity compared to existing multidrop channels
  • Broad availability with standard components
  • Supports multiple cost/performance levels, from small systems to supercomputers
  • Can carry multiple existing interface command sets for existing channel and network protocols