FW 05.01.00 and SW 07.01.00 HP StorageWorks SAN High Availability Planning Guide (AA-RS2DC-TE, June 2003)

Planning Considerations for Fibre Channel Topologies
59SAN High Availability Planning Guide
■ Multiswitch fabric — This topology provides the ability to connect directors
and edge switches through expansion ports (E_Ports) or interswitch links
(ISLs) to form a Fibre Channel fabric. Director or switch elements receive
data from a device; and, based on the destination N_Port address, route the
data through the fabric (and possibly through multiple switch elements) to the
destination device. For additional information, refer to “Planning for
Multi-Switch Fabric Support” page 78, “Planning a Fibre Channel Fabric
Topology” on page 97, and “Fabric Topology Design Considerations” on
page 107.
Planning for Point-to-Point Connectivity
Point-to-point Fibre Channel topology consists of two device N_Ports
communicating by a direct connection through a director or edge switch. The
product-operational software provides the ability to configure a dedicated
point-to-point connection by binding a director or switch port to a device World
Wide Name (WWN).
A dedicated point-to-point connection through a director or switch is simple to
implement and should be considered for server-to-storage applications where high
performance, high availability, or extended distances are required on a continual
basis.