Dell PowerVault 770N (Deskside NAS Appliance) - Manual (Page 10)

NAS Fibre Channel clusters support 2-Gb Fibre Channel, which provides high-speed data transfer between the cluster nodes
and storage systems and supports the smaller SFP connectors for higher port density.
Fibre Channel Switch Fabric
A Fibre Channel switch fabric consists of one or more Fibre Channel switches that provide high-speed connections between
servers and storage devices. The switches in a Fibre Channel fabric provide a connection through inbound and outbound
points from one device (sender) to another device or switch (receiver) on the network. If the data is sent to another switch,
the process repeats itself until a connection is established between the sender and the receiver.
Fibre Channel switches are linked together using ISLs. These ISLs use two Fibre Channel ports to connect the switches
together. Fibre Channel fabrics provide you with the ability to set up barriers between different devices and operating
environments. These barriers create logical fabric subsets with minimal software and hardware intervention. Similar to VLANs
in the client/server network, logical fabric subsets divide a fabric into smaller groups or components, regardless of their
proximity to one another. The logical subsets that form these barriers are called zones.
Zones
Zones help to segment a SAN into logical fabric subsets by setting up barriers between different operating environments with
minimal software and hardware intervention. Similar to subnets in the client/server network, these logical fabric subsets (or
zones) divide a fabric into smaller groups or components, regardless of their proximity to one another. By implementing
switch zoning together with Access Logix, you can attach multiple clusters or a combination of clusters and stand-alone
systems to a SAN.
NOTE: Dell supports only single-initiator zoning for connecting NAS clusters to the CX200, CX400, and CX600 storage
systems in a switched environment. A separate zone is created for each HBA, which includes the HBA and one or more
SP ports on the storage systems.
SAN
Cluster nodes attach to the storage systems through a cable connection (using a direct-attached configuration) or through a
SAN—a high-performance network storage solution. Similar to a LAN, a SAN is used to move data between servers and
storage systems, providing a high-speed storage resource for your cluster nodes. Using a specific collection of hardware and
software releases set to specific version levels, a SAN bypasses traditional network bottlenecks, providing a high-speed,
highly available data consolidation solution for your NAS systems.
See the EMC Support Matrix located in the EMC Technical Library at www.emc.com and the Platform Guide included with
your system documentation located at the Dell Support website at support.dell.com for the latest firmware and software
requirements.
SAN Components
Table 1-4 lists the key hardware and software components in a SAN.
NOTE: Your SAN may require additional hardware and software components that are not previously listed. See the
EMC Support Matrix located in the EMC Technical Library at www.emc.com for information about SAN-compliant
hardware and software components.
Table 1-4. SAN Components
Component Description