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Appendix
F_port A port in the FC fabric where a N_port may attach
FC-AL Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop: an FC network in which up to 126 systems and devices are
connected in a loop topology, with each transmitter connecting to the receiver of the device
to its logical right; multiple FC-AL loops can be connected via a fabric switch
FL-port A port in the FC fabric where a NL_port may attach in an arbitrated loop
firmware Software stored in read-only memory (ROM) or programmable ROM; easier to change than
hardware but more difficult to change than software stored on disk; firmware is responsible
for the behavior of the system when it is first switched on
GBIC A removable serial transceiver module which provides a connection between an external
FC interface and a host interface board
host a processor which communicates with devices over an interface
hot swapping Components are removed and replaced while the unit is running, with power to either the
component or a device connected to the unit
initiator device A component which originates a command
JBOD Just a Bunch of Disks: a storage subsystem of multiple independent disk drives
L_port a port in an arbitrated loop, either a NL_port or a FL_port
LED Light-emitting diode, a type of diode that emits light when current passes through it; visible
LEDs are used as indicator lights on the Diamond-VT
LUN Logical Unit Number: a SCSI or FC identifier of a device. A LUN is associated with a RAID
group or Virtual Drive.
N_port a port attached to a node used with point to point or fabric configurations
NL_ port a port attached to a node in FC arbitrated loop or fabric loop
originator an initiating device; a component which originates a command
partition a continuous range of addresses in a storage subsystem that appear as a logical unit; used
to subdivide and manage a storage subsystem
port an access point in a device: see N_port, NL_port, etc.
receiver the ultimate destination of data transmission; a terminal device
RAID originally Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks, now Redundant Array of Independent
Drives: a storage system spanning multiple disk drives.
The following standard RAID specifications will be used here:
RAID 0: non-redundant striped array; drives are accessed alternately, as if stacked one on
top of the other; no data protection
RAID 1: mirrored arrays: information written to one disk is also written to another
simultaneously; provides complete data protection
RAID 10: striping of mirrored groups
RAID 5: striping across multiple disks offering redundancy by including a parity block in
every stripe; the parity block is used to reconstruct the data if a single drive in the
subsystem fails
SFP Small Formfactor Pluggable: a removable transceiver which provides the connection
between an external FC interface and a host interface
subpartition a convenient term used to describe the allocation nature of a partition; a partition may be
split into a number of subpartitions (each a partition in its own right) and a collection of
contiguous subpartitions may be merged into a partition
topology logical layout of the parts of a computer system or network and their interconnections
Virtual Drive
the presentation of a collection of disk drives as a single logical disk, also known as a RAID group.
Virtual Drive ID a unique identifier associated with each Virtual Drive and displayed via CLI
Term Definition