Fibre channel-a “CHAN” for all reasons

Fibre Channel is not only the first of a family of interfaces, it is the first of a new type of interface. It represents the melding of what have been until now two quite distinct cultures - that of "channels" and "networks". As the first "Chan", or Channel Network, Fibre Channel provides the support required by both channel command sets and network protocols. In doing this, it answers the needs of next-generation system designers for more input/output bandwidth in less space, consuming less power, and with much less cable clutter. This paper first describes the features of Fibre Channel, and then illustrates the exceptional scalability and flexibility which Fibre Channel brings to a wide variety of system architectures and application environments