Technical data

Glossary-12 Brocade SilkWorm 4100 Hardware Reference Manual
Publication Number: 53-0000563-02
FFFFFA Well-known Fibre Channel address for a management server.
FFFFFB Well-known Fibre Channel address for a time server.
FFFFFC Well-known Fibre Channel address for a directory server.
FFFFFD Well-known Fibre Channel address for a fabric controller.
FFFFFE Well-known Fibre Channel address for a fabric F_Port.
FFFFFF Well-known Fibre Channel address for a broadcast alias ID.
Fibre Channel The primary protocol used for building SANs to transmit data between servers, switches, and storage
devices. Unlike IP and Ethernet, Fibre Channel was designed to support the needs of storage devices of
all types. It is a high-speed, serial, bidirectional, topology-independent, multiprotocol, and highly
scalable interconnection between computers, peripherals, and networks.
Fibre Channel
transport
A protocol service that supports communication between Fibre Channel service providers. See also
FSP.
FICON
®
A protocol used on IBM mainframes. Brocade SilkWorm switch FICON support enables a SilkWorm
fabric to transmit FICON format data between FICON-capable servers and storage.
FID Fabric ID. Unique identifier of a fabric in a meta-SAN.
FIFO First in, first out. Refers to a data buffer that follows the first in, first out rule.
fill word An IDLE or ARB ordered set that is transmitted during breaks between data frames to keep the Fibre
Channel link active.
firmware The basic operating system provided with the hardware.
firmware
watermarking
A Brocade SilkWorm switch feature that prevents an incompatible version of the Brocade Fabric OS to
be downloaded to the SilkWorm 3000 series of switches.
FL_Port Fabric loop port. A port that is able to transmit under fabric protocol and also has arbitrated-loop
capabilities. Can be used to connect an NL_Port to a switch. See also F_Port, Fx_Port.
flash Programmable nonvolatile RAM (NVRAM) memory that maintains its contents without power.
FLOGI Fabric login. The process by which an N_Port determines whether a fabric is present and, if so,
exchanges service parameters with it. See also PLOGI.
FOTP Fiber Optic Test Procedure. Standards developed and published by the Electronic Industries Association
(EIA) under the EIA-RS-455 series of standards.
FPD Field-programmable device. Interchangeable with “PLD”.
FPGA Field-programmable gate array. An FPD that allows high logic capacity.
fractional
bandwidth
The partial use of a link to send data back and forth, with a maximum of 254 Class 4 connections per
N_Port.