Technical data

Glossary-2 Brocade SilkWorm 4100 Hardware Reference Manual
Publication Number: 53-0000563-02
alias address
identifier
An address identifier recognized by a port in addition to its standard identifier. An alias address
identifier can be shared by multiple ports. See also alias.
alias AL_PA An AL_PA value recognized by an L_Port in addition to the AL_PA assigned to the port. See also
AL_PA.
alias server A fabric software facility that supports multicast group management.
ANSI American National Standards Institute.
ARB Arbitrative primitive signal. Applies only to an arbitrated-loop topology. Transmitted as the fill word by
an L_Port to indicate that the port is arbitrating access to the loop.
arbitrated loop A shared 100-Mbit/sec Fibre Channel transport structured as a loop. Can support up to 126 devices and
one fabric attachment. See also topology.
arbitration A method of gaining orderly access to a shared-loop topology.
area number In Brocade Fabric OS v4.0 and above, ports on a switch are assigned a logical area number. Port area
numbers can be viewed by entering the switchshow command. They are used to define the operative
port for many Fabric OS commands: for example, area numbers can be used to define the ports within
an alias or zone.
ARP Address Resolution Protocol. A TCP/IP function for associating an IP address with a link-level address.
ARR Asynchronous response router. Refers to Management Server GS_Subtype Code E4, which appears in
portlogdump command output.
ASD Alias server daemon. Used for managing multicast groups by supporting the create, add, remove, and
destroy functions.
ASIC Application-specific integrated circuit.
ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode. A transport used for transmitting data over LANs or WANs that transmit
fixed-length units of data. Provides any-to-any connectivity and allows nodes to transmit
simultaneously.
authentication The process of verifying that an entity in a fabric (such as a switch) is what it claims to be. See also
digital certificate, switch-to-switch authentication.
autocommit A feature of the firmwaredownload command. Enabled by default, autocommit commits new
firmware to both partitions of a control processor.
autoreboot Refers to the -b option of the firmwaredownload command. Enabled by default.
AW_TOV Arbitration wait timeout value. The minimum time an arbitrating L_Port waits for a response before
beginning loop initialization.