9-pin "DE-9" cable connector

Optional pins 2, 3, 7, and 8 are intended for use with an external optical converter. This is often called a Media Interface Assembly (MIA).

Fibre channel DE-9 connectors often have only the 4 required contacts installed. Note that they are the four outermost contacts. This is an easy way to tell a fibre channel cable from an RS-232 cable.

13 Switched fabric

Switched fabric, switching fabric, or just fabric, is a network topology where network nodes connect with each other via one or more network switches (particularly via crossbar switches, hence the name). The term is popular in telecommunication, Fibre Channel storage area networks and other high-speed networks, including InfiniBand. The term is in contrast to a broadcast medium, such as early forms of Ethernet. Switched fabrics can offer better total throughput than broadcast networks, because traffic is spread across multiple physical links.

Similarly, some modern computers use a switched fabric, such as PCI Express, HyperTransport, or QuickPath, instead of a bus. Again, the advantage of the switched fabric is performance.

July 1, 2011

Continue