FC SAN

FC SAN are two different words or terms. The term FC refers to a technology and SAN is a part of that technology, hence, it can be said that these two are inter-related; however, we cannot take this term as a single term. The term FC stands for Fiber Channel which is a gigabit network technology basically used for the storage of the data and information. This technology of Fiber channel is recorded and standardized in the T11 Technical Committee of the INCITS, which basically is an ANSI, accredited committee.

In the start when this technology was used it was only used in the super computers for the storage purpose of the data, however, in today’s world this technology is used in all of the computers and it is a standard connection type for the storage area network or more commonly known as SAN. From this concept the name FC SAN is derived, which is an acronym for Fiber Channel Storage Area Network.

The name on the first glance gives an impression that this technology can only work on the fiber cables, however, despite its name; fiber channel can operate on both, twisted pair copper wire and fiber optic cables. The history of fiber channel dates back to 1988, when it was first started, however, it was not till the year 1994 that it was approved by the ANSI, as a way to simply the HIPPI system.

With reference to the Fiber channel topologies, there are three major topologies present in the networking world, namely, point – to – point, Arbitrated Loop and Switched Fabric. In the same way, this technology is not made up of a seven layer model like the OSI model, instead, it is made up of five different layers which can bring about all the functions needed for the technology to work.