Everything You Need to Know about Fibre Channel

What is Fibre Channel

History of Fibre Channel

Fibre Channel technology began in 1988 and was standardized by the T11 Technical Committee under the International Committee on Information Technology Standards (INCITS). The Fibre Channel Physical and Signaling Interface (FC-PH) was first published in October 1994 and the corresponding ANSI standard was developed.

Definition of Fibre Channel

Fibre Channel (FC) is a high-speed network protocol based on fiber optic transmission technology that connects computers and storage devices. It provides high-bandwidth, low-latency, and reliable data transmission, making it a widely used storage area network technology in data centers and storage environments.

Composition of Fibre Channel

optical fiber

An optical fiber, or optical fiber, is a long, elongated fiber made of glass or plastic. In Fibre Channel, optical fiber is the primary transmission medium and is primarily responsible for transmitting optical signals from the sender to the receiver. The main types of optical fibers are single-mode optical fibers and multi-mode optical fibers.

Fiber optic transceivers

Fiber optic transceiver, also known as optical converter, is an Ethernet transmission media conversion unit that interchanges short-distance twisted-pair electrical signals with long-distance optical signals. In Fibre Channel, the main function of a fiber optic transceiver is to convert electrical signals into optical signals for long-distance transmission, and at the same time, it can convert the received optical signals into electrical signals and input them to the receiving end, so as to ensure the smooth transmission of data packets in Fibre Channel.

Fiber optic switches

A Fibre Switch in Fibre Channel, also known as a Fibre Channel switch or SAN (Storage Area Network) switch, is a high-speed network transmission relay device.

Fibre Channel topology

The optical channel standard defines three different topologies, which are as follows:

Point-to-point

This architecture defines a bidirectional connection between two devices and cannot support three or more devices. It allows for a dedicated point-to-point connection between the server and the storage device.

Arbitrated loop

A one-way loop is defined that allows more than two devices to communicate and communicate over a shared bandwidth, but only two devices can exchange data with each other at any one time.

Switching networks

Providing multiple point-to-point connections through link-layer switching, it essentially defines a network in which multiple devices can exchange data simultaneously using full bandwidth. A switched network requires one or more Fibre Channel switches to be connected together to form a control center between endpoint devices.

Fibre Channel port type

N-port

Describes the ability of a port to join a switched network topology or point-to-point topology as an endpoint device (e.g., server, storage device).

F-port

The F-port is the docking point of the N-port in the Fibre Channel switch and is responsible for passing the data frames sent by the N-port to the target endpoint device.

L-port

Describes the ability of a port to join an arbitrated loop topology as an endpoint device. However, it is common for modern endpoint devices to configure NL ports instead of L ports.

NL-port

It has the capability of both N and L ports and can be connected to a switched network or an arbitrated loop.

FL-port

The FL port of the switch allows one switched network to be connected to an arbitrated loop.

E-port

Two Fibre Channel switches are connected together through the E port to enable the transfer and expansion of information.

G-port

Modern Fibre Channel switches can automatically configure their ports to G-ports, which automatically adapt to other types of ports (such as E-ports) depending on the connected device or network.

B-port

Connect two Fibre Channel switches together via ATM or SONET/SDH technology for long-distance bridging.

Fibre Channel hierarchical model

FC-0

Define the physical links in the system, including cables, connectors, and photoelectric parameters, as well as the transmission standards for physical signals.

FC-1

Provides tools for data encoding and decoding, and defines the command structure for accessing media.

FC-2

Defines how to split the chunks of data passed down by the upper-layer application into frames, and includes definitions for various service categories and traffic control mechanisms.

FC-3

Define public services, such as multiplexing and address binding capabilities.

FC-4

Provides an interface to the upper application for Fibre Channel and defines how the application protocol is mapped to the underlying Fibre Channel network.

Are Fibre Channel and Fiber Channel the same?

Fibre and fiber are not the same word, and for a long time, people tend to confuse these two words, thinking that FC switch translates to fiber optic switch, which is not true. Fibre Channel switches can connect with optical fibers or twisted pairs, but not all of them use optical fibers. Optical fiber is just one of the ways to transmit data in the physical layer defined by the FC protocol, just like Ethernet, we can use twisted pair, optical fiber, or wireless, but Ethernet is called Ethernet, not twisted pair network or optical fiber network. But there are also many people who are accustomed to these two expressions now.

Applications of Fibre Channel: 32G SFP28 optical transceivers

Features of 32G SFP28 Optical Transceivers

Before I introduce the 32G SFP28 FC transceivers, I would like to introduce you to Fibre Channel technology (FC). Due to its high bandwidth and low latency, FC technology plays an important role in the process of high-speed data transmission and timely response. Because of this technology, 32G optical modules have the following characteristics: 

High-speed transmission: It supports high-speed data transmission with a real transmission rate of up to 28.05Gbps.

Backwards compatible: Backwards compatible with 8G and 16G FC standards.

Flexible application: FC technology supports multiple topologies, enabling 32G optical modules to flexibly adapt to various network scenarios.

Stable and reliable: FC technology with built-in error detection and correction mechanism ensures the accuracy and reliability of 32G optical modules in the process of transmitting information.

Types of 32G SFP28 Optical Modules

32G SFP28 FC Multi-mode Optical Transceivers

Model: 32G SR

Wavelength: 850nm

Transmission Distance:

Maximum link length of 70m via OM3 multimode Fiber (MMF)

Maximum link length of 100m via OM4 multimode Fiber (MMF)

Application Scenarios: Short-distance applications.

32G SFP28 FC Single-mode Optical Transceivers

32G single-mode optic transceivers have these following models:32G SFP28 LR, 32G SFP28 ER, 32G SFP28 DWDM and 32G SFP28 CWDM. Then I will show you these models:

Application: The 32G LR Optical Module serves as the interconnect for long-haul Fibre Channel switches and HBA Fiber NICs. Scenarios that require longer distances require 32G ER optical transceivers. The CWDM and DWDM are suitable for complex network scenarios that require wavelength multiplexing and long-distance transmission.

Application of 32G SFP28 Optical Transceiver in SAN Storage Network

Enterprise networks have higher and higher requirements for data storage. Based on this, the SAN network came into being. A SAN network is a high-speed private subnet. A SAN storage network connects multiple storage devices together, creating a storage pool that allows multiple servers to share. 32G optical modules play a irreplaceable role in SAN storage networks due to their high efficiency, high speed, good compatibility, and flexible applications. 32G optical transceivers are currently widely employed in telecommunications, meteorology, surveying and mapping, military, radio, etc. These industries have increasing requirements for storage space. This type of module can help these industries build reliable, high-speed, and scalable storage networks. They enable real-time network monitoring, improve information transmission efficiency, and reduce losses and costs.

Conclusion

The above is the introduction to the basic knowledge of 32G SFP28 FC optical modules. We believe that 32G transceivers will play a significant role in more fields in the near future.