Technical data

Fabric OS Administrator’s Guide Glossary-13
Publication Number: 53-0000518-09
phantom
device
A device that is not physically in an arbitrated loop but is logically included through the use of a
phantom address.
PID Port identifier.
PKI Public key infrastructure. An infrastructure that is based on public key cryptography and CA (certificate
authority) and that uses digital certificates. See also “CA”, “digital certificate”, “public key
cryptography”.
PKI
certification
utility
Public key infrastructure certification utility. A utility that makes it possible to collect certificate
requests from switches and to load certificates to switches. See also “digital certificate”, “PKI”.
PLOGI Port login. The port-to-port login process by which initiators establish sessions with targets. See also
“FLOGI”.
point-to-point A Fibre Channel topology that employs direct links between each pair of communicating entities. See
also “topology”.
port In a Brocade SilkWorm switch environment, an SFP or GBIC receptacle on a switch to which an optic
cable for another device is attached.
port address In Fibre Channel technology, the port address is defined in hexadecimal. In the Brocade Fabric OS, a
port address can be defined by a domain and port number combination or by area number. In an ESCON
Director, an address used to specify port connectivity parameters and to assign link addresses for
attached channels and control units.
port blade A hardware component that provides a platform for field-replaceable, hot-swappable ports.
port log A record of all activity on a switch, kept in volatile memory.
port log dump A view of what happens on a switch, from the switch's point of view. The portlogdump command is
used to read the port log.
port name A user-defined alphanumeric name for a port.
port swapping Port swapping is the ability to redirect a failed port to another port. This feature is available in Fabric
OS v4.1.0 and higher.
port_name The unique identifier assigned to a Fibre Channel port. Communicated during login and port discovery.
POST Power-on self-test. A series of tests run by a switch after it is turned on.
primary FCS
switch
Relates to the Brocade Secure Fabric OS feature. The primary fabric configuration server switch
actively manages security and configurations for all switches in the fabric.
primitive
sequence
An ordered set that is transmitted repeatedly and continuously. Primitive sequences are transmitted to
indicate specific conditions within or conditions encountered by the receiver logic of an FC_Port. See
“OLS” and “NOS”.
primitive
signals
An ordered set that indicates actions or events and requires just one occurrence to trigger a response.
Idle and R_RDY are used in all three topologies: ARB, OPN, and CLS. MRK is used in arbitrated loop.