port address

There are two types of port addresses in a fiber optic network: fixed addresses and dynamic addresses.

① Fixed address: Each Fibre Channel identifiable device has a fixed Fibre Channel address, which is similar to the MAC address held by each Ethernet card. This fixed address is globally unique, and other devices can access it through this address.

② Dynamic address: In order to support high-level addressing, Fibre Channel defines a 24-bit dynamic identification address in the Fabric domain. Each N_Port has a unique 24-bit N_Port identifier within the Fabric domain. N_Ports can obtain their preset N_Port identifiers through protocols, or can be dynamically allocated by Fabric when devices log in.

(3) Arbitrated ring physical address

The Arbitrated Ring Physical Address (ALPA) is a single byte that uniquely identifies each port on the ring. Each port in a ring network stores the addresses of all other ports in the ring, thus providing a mechanism for communicating in the ring. The port address can be used to determine whether a port on a ring is public or private.

(4) Simple name server

Simple Name Service provides a thin directory service. Nodes, switched fabrics, and applications obtain port access information by using simple name services.

3. service level

The service level defines which mechanism is used in data transmission, and different service levels are used for different data. There are five categories of service levels:

Level 1: Connection-oriented service with confirmation;

Level 2: Connectionless service with confirmation;

Level 3: Unconfirmed connectionless service;

Level 4: Connection-oriented partial bandwidth service;

Level F: Inter-switch communication format.