Technical data

Brocade SilkWorm 4100 Hardware Reference Manual Glossary-19
Publication Number: 53-0000563-02
M
MALLOC Memory allocation. Usually relates to buffer credits.
MAN Metropolitan area network.
MB/sec Megabytes per second.
Mbit/sec Megabits per second.
meta-SAN The collection of all devices, switches, edge and backbone fabrics, LSANs, and FC routers that make up
a physically connected but logically partitioned storage network. LSANs span between edge fabrics
using FC routers. In a data network, this would simply be called “the network.” However, an additional
term is required to specify the difference between a single-fabric network (“SAN”), a multifabric
network without cross-fabric connectivity (“dual-redundant fabric SAN”), and a multifabric network
with connectivity (“meta-SAN”).
metric A relative value assigned to a route to aid in calculating the shortest path (1000 @ 1 Gbit/sec, 500 @ 2
Gbits/sec).
MIA Media interface adapter. A device that converts optical connections to copper ones, and vice-versa.
MIB Management Information Base. An SNMP structure to help with device management, providing
configuration and device information.
MMF Multimode fiber. See SWL.
MOF Managed Object Format file.
MRK Mark primitive signal. Used only in arbitrated loop, MRK is transmitted by an L_Port for
synchronization and is vendor specific.
MS Management Server. The Management Server allows a storage area network (SAN) management
application to retrieve information and administer the fabric and interconnected elements, such as
switches, servers, and storage devices. The MS is located at the Fibre Channel well-known address
FFFFFAh.
MSD Management Server daemon. Monitors the MS. Includes the Fabric Configuration Service and the
Unzoned Name Server.
MSRS Multiprotocol SAN Routing Services. An optionally licensed software bundle available on certain
Brocade platforms, such as the SilkWorm Fabric AP7420, that includes the Fibre Channel Routing
Service, the iSCSI Gateway Service, and the FCIP Tunneling Service.
MTBF Mean time between failures. An expression of time, indicating the longevity of a device.
multicast The transmission of data from a single source to multiple specified N_Ports (as opposed to all the ports
on the network). See also broadcast, unicast.
multimode A fiber optic cabling specification that allows up to 500 meters between devices.