Description


Description

The IBM Fibre Channel Hub is a 7-port central interconnection for Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loops that follow the ANSI FC-AL standard. Each Fibre Channel Hub port receives serial data from an attached node and retransmits the data out of the next hub port to the next node attached in the loop. Each reception includes data regeneration (both signal timing and amplitude) supporting full-distance optical links.

The Fibre Channel Hub detects any loop node that is missing or is inoperative and automatically routes the data to the next operational port and attached node in the loop. LED indicators provide status information to indicate whether the port is active or bypassed.

Each port requires a Gigabit Interface Converter (GBIC) to connect it to each attached node. The Fibre Channel Hub supports any combination of short-wave or long-wave optical GBICs. The GBICs are hot-pluggable into the Fibre Channel Hub, which means you can add host computers, servers, and storage modules to the arbitrated loop dynamically without powering off the Fibre Channel Hub or any connected devices.
If you remove a GBIC from a Fibre Channel Hub port, that port is automatically bypassed. The remaining hub ports continue to operate normally with no degradation of system performance. Conversely, if you plug a GBIC into the Fibre Channel Hub, it will automatically be inserted and become a node on the loop if valid Fibre Channel data is received from the device.

Data transfer within the Fibre Channel Hub is implemented in serial differential Positive Emitter Coupled Logic (PECL) AC coupled logic. Each Fibre Channel Hub port monitors the serial data input stream as well as the GBIC connected to it.

The following conditions will cause the Fibre Channel Hub to bypass a port:



The Fibre Channel Hub circuitry detects off-frequency data, excessive jitter, or inadequate edge transition density on a per-port basis. The Fibre Channel Hub uses the standardized AMP SCA2 20-pin connector to implement hot plugging. Surge currents, caused by hot plugging, are minimized by slow-start circuitry and a pin-sequencing procedure on the GBIC.
Electrostatic discharge (ESD) transients are minimized by means of sequenced connector contacts.

The Fibre Channel Hub includes a universal power supply that can operate from 95 to 250 V ac and from 50 to 60 Hz.


Fibre Channel Long-Wave GBIC

Features of the long-wave optical GBIC include:


Fibre Channel Short-Wave GBIC

Features of the short-wave optical GBIC include:


Fibre Channel-Arbitrated Loop

The Fibre Channel-Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) is an ANSI standard (X3T11) product designed to provide shared bandwidth over low-cost media. Early adapters primarily use the SCSI protocol transported over Fibre Channel for distributed server and storage-cluster applications.
The Fibre Channel Hub is a central point of interconnection designed to maintain a fault-tolerant physical loop topology.
The Fibre Channel Hub can also be used to implement configurations which extend the size of the FC-AL loop to its maximum size of 127 active loop ports (includes one optional Fabric-Loop port).


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