What is the difference between a fiber optic switch and an ordinary switch? Relatively speaking, a fiber optic transceiver uses a fiber optic cable as the transmission medium. So what are the advantages of fiber optic transmission? Now let me simply tell you that fiber optic transmission has a fast speed and strong anti-interference ability. It is a high-speed network transmission relay device.
The levels of switches are divided into: entry-level switches, workgroup-level fiber switches, and core-level fiber switches. Let's start with the core-level fiber switches!
Core-level fiber switches
Core-level switches (also called directors) are generally located in the center of large SANs, connecting several edge switches to form a SAN network with hundreds of ports. Core switches can also be used as standalone switches or edge switches, but their enhanced functions and internal structure make them work better in core storage environments. Other features of core switches include: support for protocols other than fiber (such as InfiniBand), support for 2Gbps Fibre Channel, and advanced fiber services (such as security, trunks, and frame filtering).
Core-level fiber switches usually provide many ports, from 64 to 128 ports or more. It uses very wide internal connections to route data frames with maximum bandwidth. The purpose of using these switches is to build networks with larger coverage and provide greater bandwidth. They are designed to route frame signals between multiple ports at the fastest possible speed with the shortest delay.
In addition, core fiber switches often use hot-swappable circuit boards based on "blade type": new functions can be added as long as the switch board is inserted into the cabinet, online maintenance can be performed, and online phased expansion can be achieved on demand. Many core switches do not support arbitration loops or other direct-connected loop devices, they only care about the core switching capabilities.
Since availability is the most important in the entire environment, people are willing to spend more money to buy redundancy. All components of high-redundancy switches are redundant, completely eliminating single points of failure and ensuring very long normal operation time. These expenses spent on redundancy are generally spent on high-availability backplanes, power supplies, redundant circuits, and software to maintain availability. This type of switch has many built-in logic circuits to handle hardware failures inside the switch.
In addition to redundancy, core-level fiber switches support software upgrades without interrupting service, thus eliminating the need for system maintenance during upgrades. Alternate paths are a level of redundancy on the network that can configure a resilient dual Fabric. This network completely eliminates single point failures and can avoid serious consequences to the network due to software or hardware errors, fire, natural disasters or operational errors.
Core switches provide the highest reliability and port density. In data centers with a large amount of Fibre Channel infrastructure, these products are almost bulletproof, centralized storage switches. Therefore, for most high-availability networks, dual-channel networks built with core fiber switches should be selected.
This is the editor's explanation of core fiber switches. Next, let's look at workgroup fiber switches!
Workgroup-level fiber optic switch
Fiber optic switches provide the ability to cascade many switches into a large-scale Fabric. By connecting one or more ports of two switches, all ports connected to the switches can see a unique image of the network, and any node on this Fabric can communicate with other nodes.
Essentially, by cascading switches, a large, virtual, distributed switch can be built, and it can span a very large distance. A Fabric built by multiple switches looks like a Fabric made up of individual switches, and the ports on all switches can view and access all other ports on the Fabric just like accessing a local switch. A unified name server and management service allow viewing and modifying all Fabric information through a single interface.
An important factor in creating a distributed fabric is the bandwidth of the inter-switch connections. The effective rate between any two ports is affected by the effective bandwidth of the inter-switch connection, and multiple inter-switch connections may be required to maintain the necessary bandwidth. Workgroup Fibre Channel switches are numerous and more versatile.
You can use workgroup switches in a variety of ways, but the most common application area is small SANs. These switches can be connected together through inter-switch interconnects to provide more ports. Inter-switch interconnects can be created on any port on the Fibre Channel switch. However, if you plan to use products from multiple manufacturers, be sure to ensure that the equipment is interoperable.
The above is the editor's explanation of the workgroup-level fiber optic switch. Finally, let's look at the entry-level switch!
Entry-level switch
The application of entry-level switches is mainly concentrated in small workgroups with 8 to 16 ports. It is suitable for low-cost occasions with little expansion and management. They are often used to replace hubs, and can provide higher bandwidth and more reliable connections than hubs. People generally do not buy entry-level switches alone, but often buy them together with other levels of switches to form a complete storage solution. Entry-level switches provide limited levels of port cascading capabilities. If users use this type of low-end device alone, they may encounter some manageability issues.
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