Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
•
Fast connection time - instant circuit setup time using hardware enhanced Fibre channel
protocol.
•
Guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS) True connection service or fractional bandwidth,
connection-oriented virtual circuits to guarantee QoS for critical back-ups or other
operations.
•
Hybrid topology - Supports many different topologies, such as dedicated point-to-point
circuits, shared bandwidth ring networks or scalable bandwidth switched circuits.
•
Low latency - extremely low latency connection and connectionless service.
•
Real or virtual circuits.
•
Synchronous support - this is used with video connections, and uses fractional band-
width virtual circuits.
12.7 Exercises
12.7.1
Which of the following offers the highest potential data rate:
(a)
Single-mode fibre optic
(b)
Multimode fibre optic
(c)
Cat-3, shielded twisted pair
(d)
Cat-5, shielded twisted pair
12.7.2
What is the topology of a large Fibre Channel network:
(a)
Back plane
(b)
Bus network
(c)
Star network
(d)
Ring network
12.7.3
What devices do workstations normally connect to with a Fibre channel network:
(a)
Router
(b)
Hub
(c)
Bridge
(d)
Repeater
12.7.4
Which of the following is not an advantage of Fibre channel:
(a)
High data rate
(b)
Hot swappable local devices
(c)
Can be used with many networking protocols
(d)
Increased amount of ring connections
12.8 Notes from the author
Well, ask any Managing Director of a large commercial organisation about what their key
resources is, and, at least, if they are honest, 9 out of 10 of them will say their IT infrastruc-
ture. Thus, if a company were to loose electronic mail or their Intranet connections, it would
be very costly in lack of efficiency. What is required, then, is a fast and robust network back-
bone. This is what fibre channel does best. It's not cheap, but it's as good as it gets.
