This post will introduce you some basics of Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop including hows it working and its features.
In this post ofMiniTool, you’re able to more information about Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop.
In fact, FC-AL uses one-way loop technology to pass data.
Historically, it is a low-cost alternative to structural topologies.
That makes the cost of switch has dropped dramatically.
Hence, FC-AL became rare in server-to-storage communications, but it is still very common in the storage system.
Another thing you should probably know is that Fibre Channel technology is used in early SAN.
By the end of 1990s, FC SANs began to be widely used on a large scale.
The structure of FC-AL only allows a port to pass data at a time.
The FC-AL system chooses ports according to arbitration signals.
If the equipment in the chain fails, the physical ring will stop working.
It bypasses the lost equipment completely.
