Installation and Reference Guide
Glossary-1
Glossary
8b/10b
Encoding
An encoding scheme that converts each 8-bit byte into 10 bits. Used to balance
ones and zeros in high-speed transports.
Address
Identifier
A 24-bit or 8-bit value used to identify the source or destination of a frame.
Advanced
Performance
Monitoring
A software product that provides error and performance information to the
administrator and end user for use in storage management.
AL_PA
Arbitrated Loop Physical Address; a unique 8-bit value assigned during loop
initialization to a port in an arbitrated loop.
Alias Address
Identifier
An address identifier recognized by a port in addition to its standard identifier. An
alias address identifier may be shared by multiple ports.
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; the governing body for Fibre Channel
standards in the U.S.A.
API
Application Programming Interface; defined protocol that allows applications to
interface with a set of services.
Arbitrated
Loop
A shared 100 MBps Fibre Channel transport structured as a loop. Can support up
to 126 devices and one fabric attachment. See also Topology.
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.
AW_TOV
Arbitration Wait Time-out Value; the minimum time an arbitrating L_Port waits
for a response before beginning loop initialization.
Bandwidth
The total transmission capacity of a cable, link, or system. Usually measured in
bps (bits per second). May also refer to the range of transmission frequencies
available to a network. See also Throughput.
BB_Credit
Buffer-to-buffer credit; the number of frames that can be transmitted to a directly
connected recipient or within an arbitrated loop. Determined by the number of
receive buffers available. See also Buffer-to-buffer Flow Control, EE_Credit.
Beginning
Running
Disparity
The disparity at the transmitter or receiver when the special character associated
with an ordered set is encoded or decoded. See also Disparity.