Transcript Fibre Channel – Chapter 9

Fibre Channel – Chapter 9
1
Fibre Channel
Introduction
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Originally developed for mainframe & supercomputing
environments to connect together high speed clusters & storage
Development began in 1988 under the auspices of the ANSI T11
committee (device level interfaces) and culminated in the
approval of the ANSI standard in 1994
Besides its use as a very high bandwidth I/O channel technology,
there is increasing interest in Fibre Channel as a LAN technology
because of its high speed and unique combination of channel &
network oriented properties:
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Data-type qualifiers for routing data into specific interface buffers
Link-level constructs designed to support individual I/O operations
Support for existing I/O interface specifications (SCSI, HIPPI, etc.)
Full multiplexing capabilities
Peer-to-peer connectivity between any two ports in a FC network
Ability to internetwork with other LAN, WAN, & I/O technologies
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Fibre Channel
Introduction
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Comparsion of Fibre Channel with Gigabit Ethernet
and ATM [Table 9.1]
Fibre Channel
Gigabit Ethernet
ATM
Storage, Network,
Video, & CPU Clusters
Point-to-Point,
loop/hub, switched
3.2-Gbps
Network
Guaranteed
Delivery
Congestion data
loss
Frame Size
Yes
No
No
Class 3 only
Yes
Yes
Variable: 0-2,148 bytes
Variable: 0-1518 bytes
Fixed: 53 bytes
Flow Control
Credit-based
Rate-based
Rate-based
Physical Media
Twisted Pair, Coax, and
Fiber
UTP, Coax, and Fiber
UTP and Fiber
Applications
Topologies
Data Rate
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Point-to-Point, hub,
switched
1-Gbps
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Network, Video,
Multimedia
Switched
2.4-Gbps
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Fibre Channel
Architecture
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Designed to provide a common, efficient, high-speed transport to
a wide variety of devices through a single port type
Requirements outlined by the Fibre Channel Association:
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Full-duplex links over a fiber pair (one transmit/one receive)
Bi-directional performance up to 3.2-Gbps on a single link
Support over distances up to 10 kilometers
Small connectors for high density applications
High-capacity utilization with distance insensitivity
Greater connectivity than existing multi-drop channels
Broad availability at reasonable cost
Support for multiple cost/performance levels, from PCs to clusters
Ability to carry multiple protocols and command sets
The best way to meet such demanding requirements was to
develop a transport mechanism based on simple point-to-point
links & a switching network
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Fibre Channel
Terminology
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Fibre Channel, having a different heritage than other
LAN/WAN technologies, has different terminology [Table 9.2]
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Dedicated Connection: A circuit guaranteed and retained by the
fabric for two specified N_Ports
Exchange: The basic mechanism that transfers information,
consisting of one or more related non-concurrent sequences in
one or both directions
Fabric: The entity that interconnects various N_Ports attached to
it and handle the routing of frames
Intermix: A mode of service that reserves the full FC capacity
for a dedicated (Class 1) connection but allows the transport of
additional connectionless data if space is available
Node: A collection of one or more N_Ports
Operation: A set of one or more, possibly concurrent, exchanges
that is associated with a logical construct above the FC-2 layer
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Fibre Channel
Terminology (continued)
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Fibre Channel, having a different heritage than other
LAN/WAN technologies, has different terminology [Table 9.2]
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Dedicated Connection: A circuit guaranteed and retained by the
fabric for two
Originator: The logical function associated with an N_Ports that
initiates an exchange
Port: The hardware entity within a node that performs data
communications over a FC link
Responder: The logical function in a N_Port responsible for
supporting an exchange initiated by an originator
Sequence: A set of one or more data frames with a common
sequence ID transmitted unidirectionally from one N_Port to
another N_Port, with a corresponding response, if applicable,
transmitted in response to each data frame
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Fibre Channel
Terminology
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Fibre Channel Elements
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The key elements of a FC network are the end devices called
nodes and the collection of switching elements called the fabric
Communication between nodes across a FC network consists of
transmission of frames across the point-to-point links & fabric
Each node has one or more N_Ports for connection to the fabric
Nodes connect to F_Ports on the fabric via bi-directional pointto-point links
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Fabrics can be a single switch or a general collection of switching
elements
Frames may be buffered within the fabric, making it possible for
nodes to connect to the fabric at different data rates
The fabric is a switched architecture, not a shared access medium, so
no MAC issues are encountered and no MAC sublayer is necessary
The FC network scales easily in terms of ports, data rate, and
distance covered and through its layered protocol architecture
interworks with existing LAN and I/O protocols
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Fibre Channel
Terminology
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Basic Fibre Channel Architectural Diagram
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Fibre Channel
Example Architecture
General
LAN
iSCSI Enabled
Server
3Com
Ethernet Switch
APP Server #1
w/ FC HBA
APP Server #2
w/ FC HBA
APP Server #3
w/ FC HBA
Fibre Channel
Switch w/ iSCSI bridge
RAID array
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RAID array
RAID array
RAID array
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Fibre Channel
Protocol Specifications
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Fibre Channel Protocol Architecture
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The Fibre Channel standard reference model is organized into
five levels [Figure 9.3 and Table 9.3]
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These are not ‘levels’ in the strict sense of the OSI model but
are instead functional groupings of services and/or definitions
The standard does not dictate actual implementations,
relationships between the levels, or the specific interfaces
between levels
Levels FC-0, FC-1, and FC-2 are defined together in a standard
called the Fibre Channel Physical and Signaling Interface (FCPH)
No final standard has been issued for FC-3
A number of standards have been developed at FC-4 specifying
how Fibre Channel interfaces to existing LAN and I/O
technologies
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Fibre Channel
Protocol Specifications
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Fibre Channel Protocol Architecture (continued)
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Fibre Channel
Protocol Specifications
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Fibre Channel Protocol Architecture (continued)
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Details on the FC-0 level
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A variety of physical media and data rates are allowed:
– Data rates: 100-Mbps to 3.2-Gbps
– Media: fiber optic, coaxial cable, and STP
– Distance: 50 m to 10 km depending on data rate and
media
The FC-1 level uses a 8B/10B encoding scheme in which 8
bits of data from the FC-2 level are encoded into a 10 bit
binary symbol
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Fibre Channel
Protocol Specifications
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Fibre Channel Protocol Architecture (continued)
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The FC-2 level is responsible for the transmission of data
between N_Ports, which requires the following:
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Addressing of N_Ports
Permissible topologies of the fabric
Classes of service
Segmentation and reassembly of frames as well as higher level
grouping of frames (sequences and exchanges)
Sequencing, flow control, and error control
The FC-3 level provides a common set of services across
multiple N_Ports
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Striping: the process of using multiple ports to transmit a
single data unit in parallel
Hunt groups: allows a connection to be established to any
available N_Port in the group
Multicast (and broadcast)
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Fibre Channel
Protocol Specifications
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Fibre Channel Protocol Architecture (continued)
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The FC-4 level defines how other protocols interoperate with
Fibre Channel (specifically FC-PH)
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SCSI – a common device interface standard for computer
peripherals
HIPPI – a high speed I/O channel used in mainframe and
supercomputing environments
IEEE 802 – how IEEE 802 MAC frames map to Fibre Channel
frames
ATM
IP – how to map packets into Fibre Channel frames (RFC
2625)
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Fibre Channel
Physical Media and Topologies
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A major strength of Fibre Channel is that it provides a
range of options for the physical medium, the data rate
on that medium, and the topology of the network
Transmission Media
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A special shorthand nomenclature has been developed for FC
media – it basically consists of the following:
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Speed-Medium-Transmitter-Distance
FC-0 options are listed in Figure 9.4
Allowable Media Types
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Fiber Optic: both SM and both 50m and 62.5m MM
Coaxial Cable: three types of 75 ohm cable are specified, a thick
RG-6/U, a thinner RG-59/U, and a miniature coax cable 0.1
inches in diameter
Shielded Twisted Pair: two types of 150 ohm cables are
specified for use over short distances at data rates up to 200Mbps: EIA-568 Type 1 STP: (two shielded twisted pair) or EIA568 Type 2 STP (four pair STP)
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Fibre Channel
Physical Media and Topologies
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Topologies
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The most general FC topology is the fabric (switched) topology
Four basic topologies [Figure 9.5] are available in Fibre Channel:
point-to-point, fabric, arbitrated loop (no hub), and arbitrated
loop with hub
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Point-to-point connects two end nodes with no switches or
routing
The fabric topology can contain an arbitrary number of switches,
some connecting to nodes and others that just provide transport
between other switches
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The fabric topology allows for easy scalability
In the fabric topology the overhead on nodes is minimized; they
are only responsible for managing the point-to-point link to their
local switch
Each port requires a unique address to allow frames to be
delivered to the proper destination
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Fibre Channel
Physical Media and Topologies
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Topologies (continued)
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The arbitrated loop topology allows up to 126 nodes to be
connected in a simple, low-cost loop
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The ports on the loop are a special kind called NL_Ports
because they must perform special functions associated
with loop management
Operation is roughly equivalent to other token ring
protocols
There is a token acquisition protocol controlling loop
access
The fabric & loop topologies can be connected as long as
one node can act as both an arbitrated loop & a fabric
node that participates in routing decisions on the fabric
The topology of a given FC network is discovered
automatically as part of network initialization
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Fibre Channel
Physical Media and Topologies
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Fibre Channel Topologies (continued)
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Fibre Channel
Framing & Classes of Service
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Framing Protocol
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The FC-2 layer defines the rules for the transfer of frames
between nodes, comparable to the OSI data link layer
FC-2 specifies the types of frames, procedures for the
exchange of frames, frame formats, flow control, and classes
of service
Classes of Service
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FC-2 defines multiple classes of service; these classes are
determined by the way communication is established between
two ports and their flow control and error control capabilities
Five classes of service are currently defined:
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Class
Class
Class
Class
Class
1:
2:
3:
4:
6:
Acknowledged Connection-oriented service
Acknowledged Connectionless service
Unacknowledged Connectionless service
Fractional Bandwidth Connection-oriented service
Unidirectional Connection service
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Fibre Channel
Framing & Classes of Service
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FC-2 Classes of Service
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Class 1 Service (Acknowledged Connection-oriented service)
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Provides a dedicated path through the fabric which
behaves to the end nodes like a point-to-point link
Also provides a guaranteed data rate with sequenced
delivery of frames
The end node requests the setup of a Class 1 service
connection using a special start-of-frame delimiter (SOFc1)
Class 1 service is advantageous for long constant
bandwidth transfers of data (e.g. - streaming backups over
a network)
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Fibre Channel
Framing & Classes of Service
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FC-2 Classes of Service (continued)
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Class 2 Service (Acknowledged Connectionless service)
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Provides an acknowledged data transmission service
without the overhead of setting up a connection through
the fabric
Acknowledgements frames are returned by the receiving
port, if a delivery cannot be made due to congestion a
busy frame is returned
This is not the case with frames that cannot be delivered
due to frame errors
Sequenced delivery is not guaranteed; frames can take
different paths through the fabric if possible
Multiplexing of frames from different sources and/or
destinations is allowed
Class 2 service is good for Storage Area Networks (SANs)
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Fibre Channel
Framing & Classes of Service
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FC-2 Classes of Service (continued)
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Class 3 Service
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Provides a basic datagram service with no connection setup
No guaranteed nor acknowledged delivery
Good for short bursts of data or delivery of multicast/broadcast data
Class 4 Service
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(Fractional Bandwidth Connection-oriented service)
Provides a service similar to Class 1 but also provides Quality of
Service (QoS) guarantees and reservations
Allows the specification of guaranteed bandwidth & bounded latency
QoS parameters established separately for each direction
Good for time-critical & real-time applications like videoconferencing
Class 6 Service
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(Unacknowledged Connectionless service)
(Unidirectional Connection service)
Provides the reliable unicast delivery found in Class 1 but also
supports reliable multicast and preemption
Good for video streaming and broadcasting
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Fibre Channel
Frames, sequences, and exchanges
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There is much more to the FC-2 layer than frames & classes of
service; it defines a set of functional building blocks for higher
layer services
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Also defines a number of protocols used to implement services
at a port
Typical protocols are creating or terminating a connection,
transferring data, etc.
Protocols consist of an exchange of information between
N_Ports, which in turn consists of sequences, and sequences a
composed of a related set of frames
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Fibre Channel
Frames, sequences, and exchanges
Class of Service
N_Port Service
Fabric Login
Protocol
Data Transfer
Protocol
N_Port Logout
Protocol
Exchange
Exchange
Exchange
Sequence
Frame
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Frame
Sequence
Frame
Sequence
Frame
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Sequence
Frame
Frame
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Fibre Channel
Frames, sequences, and exchanges (continued)
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There are two general types of frames: data and control
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The three types of data frames are used to transfer higher
level information between N_Ports
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FC-4 Device Data: used to transfer higher-layer data units from
protocols specified in FC-4 standards (IP, SCSI, etc.)
FC-4 Video Data: used to transmit streamed video between buffers
without an intermediate storage
Link Data: used to support higher level control information between
N_Ports
There are currently three types of link control frames
defined:
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Link Continue: functions as an acknowledgement in Fibre Channel
sliding-window based data transfer
Link Response: used as a negative acknowledgement in FC slidingwindow based data transfer
Link Command: A reset command used to reinitialize the slidingwindow based transfer mechanism
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Fibre Channel
Frames, sequences, and exchanges (continued)
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Sequences
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With Fibre Channel a maximum frame size is imposed at the
FC-2 layer but is transparent to higher layers
Higher layers set down chunks of data to FC-2, which may
need to break them up into a sequence of frames
The sequence of data frames needed to carry a single
higher-layer chunk of data may also be accompanied by one
or more link control frames for acknowledgement
FC-2 provides the segmentation and reassembly that
supports the transmission of sequences as well as error
control
Errors in a frame that belongs to a sequence causes the
retransmission of that whole sequence (and any others
transmitted after it – go back N ARQ)
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Fibre Channel
Frames, sequences, and exchanges (continued)
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Exchanges
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Exchanges are mechanisms for organizing multiple
sequences into a higher-level construct to allow easier
interfacing to applications
Examples of exchanges are SCSI disk operations like a read
or write
Can involve either a unidirectional or bi-directional transfer
of sequences
Within a given exchange, only a single sequence can be
active (though sequences from different exchanges can be
simultaneously active)
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Fibre Channel
Frames, sequences, and exchanges (continued)
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Protocols
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An exchange is tied to a protocol that provides a specific
service for higher levels
Some common protocols that may be used by any higher
application:
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Fabric Login: executed upon initialization of an N_Port,
requires the exchange of the N_Port address, classes of
service supported, and flow-control parameters
N_Port Login: the exchange of service parameters between
a pair of N_Ports before data exchange (buffer space,
service classes supported, etc.)
N_Port Logout: the termination of a connection between a
pair of N_Ports
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Fibre Channel
Framing & Classes of Service
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Two levels of credit
are in use with Class 1
& 2 services -- end-toend and node-toswitch
Class 4 may have the
same flow control as
Classes 1 and 2; can’t
find a good answer
because most current
equipment only
supports class 2 & 3
Flow Control
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Fibre Channel provides a sophisticated set of flow control
mechanisms at two ‘levels’: end-to-end and buffer-to-buffer
The key to the FC flow control mechanisms is the concept of
credit: credit is negotiated at login and denotes the number
of unacknowledged frames allowed at any time
End-to-End Flow Control
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This type of flow control paces the flow of frames between
N_Ports
Requires acknowledgements to operate, so end-to-end flow
control can be used only with Class 1 and Class 2 services
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Fibre Channel
Flow Control (continued)
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End-to-End Flow Control
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Three types of acknowledgements are possible in a Class 1 or
Class 2 service
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ACK_1: acknowledges one data frame & decrements the
credit count by 1
ACK_N: acknowledges N data frames & decrements the credit
count by N
ACK_0: acknowledges a whole sequence, decrementing the
credit count by the number of frames in the sequence
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Fibre Channel
Flow Control (continued)
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End-to-End Flow Control (continued)
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Acknowledgement types cannot be mixed; if ACK_1 is
initially used for a Class 1 connection than it must be used
for the duration of the connection
Busy and Reject control frames are used for flow control
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The F_BSY frame indicates the fabric is busy and cannot
deliver a frame
The P_BSY frame indicates the destination port is busy and
cannot accept a frame; the sender will try a predefined
number of times to retransmit the frame
With the Reject (F_RJT and P_RJT) frames, delivery of the
data frame is being denied (for some reason other than
congestion)
When a frame belonging to a sequence is rejected the whole
sequence must be retransmitted
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Fibre Channel
Flow Control (continued)
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Buffer-to-buffer Flow Control
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This is flow control across a pair of ports connected by a
point-to-point link, assuring that buffers are available in
the ports at either end of the link
This mechanism is also applicable to all classes of service
(including Class 3 datagram service)
A single type of control signal, the R_RDY frame, is used
for buffer-to-buffer flow control
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As a data frame is transmitted across the link, the sender
increments its credit count for the link
At the receiving port the data frame is buffered as received
As soon as the data frame is switched to another port’s
buffer on the switch, the receiving port sends back the
R_RDY frame to the sending port
When the sending port receives the R_RDY frame it
decrements the credit count, opening its send window by
one frame
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Fibre Channel
Framing & Classes of Service
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Frame Format [Figure 9.10]
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The Fibre Channel Frame contains five general fields:
 Start Delimiter
 Frame Header
 Data
 Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC)
 End Delimiter
Start
Delimeter
(4 bytes)
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Optional Headers
Frame Header
(24 bytes)
Data Field
(Variable: 0-2112 bytes)
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CRC
(4 bytes)
End
Delimeter
(4 bytes)
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Fibre Channel
Framing & Classes of Service
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Frame Format - Start of Frame Delimiter
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The start of Frame Delimiter includes a four byte set of nondata symbols denoting the start of a frame and allowing
synchronization
The SOF delimiter comes in several varieties, each of which
will specify the frame’s type and class of service
Examples are SOF Class 1 connection (SOFc1), SOF normal
(for data frames), and SOF fabric (for control frames in the
fabric)
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Fibre Channel
Framing & Classes of Service
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Frame Format - FC- 2 Frame Header
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Contains the control data required at this level; consists of
the following fields:
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Routing control: contains two subfields, one that denotes the
type of frame (device data, link control, etc.) and the type of
data within the frame
Destination Identifier: destination N_Port or F_Port
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FC uses two levels of addressing: a globally unique identifier
(world wide port/node names) & a lower level port identifier
• World wide/port name is used by higher layers and for
network management
• Port identifier is the 3-byte that is used for frame routing
that consists of three parts: domain, area, and port
The hierarchical addressing structure facilitates routing and
management of the fabric
A mechanism for mapping between the two addresses is
necessary
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Fibre Channel
Framing & Classes of Service
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Frame Format - FC- 2 Frame Header
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Contains the control data required at this level; consists of
the following fields:
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Source Identifier: source N_Port or F_Port
Type: if the routing control field specifies an FC-4 frame, then
this field specifies the payload protocol (SCSI, IP, etc.)
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Frame control: contains control information relating to frame
content
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This field and the Route control field allow the destination
N_Port to deliver the data to the correct higher layer ‘user’
Is frame a retransmission? Is frame part of a sequence?
Sequence ID: unique identifier for a sequence used for all
frames belonging to it
Data Field control: specifies which, if any, of four optional
headers are present
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Fibre Channel
Framing & Classes of Service
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Frame Format - Frame Header (continued)
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Contains the control data required at this level; consists of
the following fields:
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Sequence count: A unique number assigned sequentially to
each frame in a sequence (for flow control and proper
reassembly of frames within a sequence)
Originator Exchange Identifier: a unique identifier assigned to
the higher layer initiator of an exchange
Responder Exchange Identifier: a unique identifier assigned
to the higher layer destination of an exchange
Parameter: used in different ways for link control and data
frames
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Link control frames carry information specific to the control
function in this field
Data frames may carry an address meaningful to the upper layer
protocol
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Fibre Channel
Framing & Classes of Service
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Frame Format - Data Field
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Contains user data in a multiple of four bytes chunks up to a
maximum of 2112 bytes
Can also include one or more optional headers whose
presence is denoted in the Data Field control field:
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Expiration Security optional header: can carry an expiration date
for the frame and well as other security data over and above the
FC-PH standard
Optional Network Header: may be used by a bridge or gateway
node interfacing to an external network to allow tunneling
(includes 8 bit source and destination network addresses)
Optional Association Header: may help specify an upper layer
process (or group of processes) associated with an exchange
Optional Device Header: if used the format is specified by the
upper layer protocol used with the frame
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Fibre Channel
Framing & Classes of Service
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Frame Format - CRC & End Delimeter
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CRC field: the error detection algorithm is the same 32 bit
CRC used with FDDI and IEEE 802
End of Frame Delimiter
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A four byte field denoting the end of the frame
The EOF field may be modified by a switch in the fabric if it
finds an error in the frame or some other condition that
invalidates the frame
There are three different EOF delimiters for valid frames:
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EOFt denotes the end of a valid sequence
EOFdt is used with Class 1 service to indicate that the frame
is the last frame on the logical connection (i.e. – the
connection is being terminated)
EOFn is used to denote successful transmission of frames not
covered by the first two
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Fibre Channel
Examples of Equipment

Fibre Channel Equipment Manufacturers
–
High-end (“Director-Class”) Switches
 Brocade Silkworm 2400
(http://www.brocade.com/products/directors/silkworm_24000/index.jsp)

McData Intrepid 6140
(http://www.mcdata.com/products/hardware/director/6140.html)
–
Low-end (“Edge”) Switches
 EMC DS-16B3
(http://www.emc.com/pdf/products/connectrix/connectrix_DS_16B2.pdf)

Cisco MDS 9120
(http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps5993/index.html)
–
Host-Bus Adapters (HBA)
 HP Storageworks FCA-2408 2Gbps PCI-X
(http://h18006.www1.hp.com/products/storageworks/fca2408/index.html)

Qlogic QLA2200L 1Gbps PCI
(http://www.qlogic.com/support/product_resources.asp?id=118)
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Class #5: Token Ring LANs & Fibre Channel
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IEEE 802.3 Family of LAN Protocols
Homework & Reading

Homework #4 - Due in four weeks (3/22)
–
–
–

The idea of using Ethernet as a service provider technology
is very attractive, but it lacks much of the functionality
needed in that environment. Research a technology called
Resilient Packet Ring (RPR) and write 1-1.5 pages on what
its goals are and what functionality it provides.
Fibre Channel continues to evolve as a networking
technology: research and write 1-1.5 pages on two different
enhancements are currently being developed (e.g. – higher
speeds, new higher layer mappings, etc.)
Redo OPNet Lab #1 using a 16-Mbps Token Ring instead of
ethernet; answer all questions except #4.
Reading
–
–
This week’s material: Stallings chapters 8 and 9
Next week: SONET, ATM, & ATM LANs (chapter 11)
635.412.71 Spring 05
Class #5: Token Ring LANs & Fibre Channel
41