The VSP is the first enterprise storage system that has converted to Serial Attached SCSI for faster, point-to-point, performance and availability over conventional FC
Arbitrated Loop disk connections and introduced small form factor 2.5 inch disks which consume less than half the power of conventional 3.5 inch disks.
The Ultrastar 15K600 is a 15,000RPM 3.5" 6Gb/s SAS or 4Gb/s Fibre Channel
Arbitrated Loop (FCAL) device and is available in 300GB, 450GB and 600GB capacities.
Today, the FC
arbitrated loop link supports up to 126 devices and operates at a rate of 4Gb/s, FC is also designed to support both copper and optical interconnect, and, when operated in fabric mode supports complex storage networking applications.
The most prominent Fibre Channel standard is Fibre Channel
Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL).
(NYSE:A) has announced the results of a successful 4 Gb/s Fibre Channel
Arbitrated Loop (FCAL) interoperability test.
Fibre Channel supports various physical topologies, including point-to-point,
arbitrated loop (FC-AL) and switched fabric.
With the SilkWorm 12000, Brocade will offer the industry's most comprehensive zoning, supporting zone configuration based on industry-standard worldwide names, port ID, Logical Unit Name (LUN), and AL_PA (
Arbitrated Loop Physical Address).
Compaq says the Raid Array 8000 and Enterprise Storage Array 12000 product lines will support 32-bit NT on AlphaServers in Fibre Channel
Arbitrated Loop (FCAL) configurations through service pack 6.
Additionally, expanders enable SAS storage solutions comparable to fiber channel
arbitrated loop with many of the performance characteristics of fiber channel switch implementations, but at a lower cost.
ADIC's own hardware platforms and software applications provide direct support for SCSI, iSCSI, Fibre Channel fabric and
arbitrated loop protocols, with development programs in place for other SAN and NAS technologies.
Part of Ciprico's Fibre Channel disk array line, the NETarray 1000 product uses dual Fibre Channel
Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) technology - allowing two loop configurations inside a single enclosure.
Besides the popular
arbitrated loop configuration, Fibre Channel may be used tn a switched fabric, linking as many as 224 ports.
