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Compatibility issues

I have Brocade SilkWorm 2400 with all FC ports 1 GB. How can I use it if I'm going to use 2 GB Fibre storage products? Are all 2 GB Fibre controllers compatible with all 1 GB controllers? Do I need a converter?

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The 2 GB spec was written so that all 2 GB products would be compatible with 1GB products. A 2 GB product will autosense the 1 GB data rate and work at 1 GB.

Now, if your switch is at 1 GB and everything connects through the switch, then everything will run at 1 GB. This may not be such a big deal depending on how you plan to export LUNs through a single port on a storage subsystem (what some people refer to as oversubscribing -- it is probably more accurate to call it multiplexing).

The point is that several host systems may access several different LUNs through a single port and target address. If you planned to do this with 2 GB equipment in a subsystem, this could be a problem for you.

Regards,
Marc

Update from editor:
Question: Mr. Farley, no switch can support such speed as 1 GB, it should be 1 Gbit.

Answer: Yes, the current transmission rates are in G bits, not G bytes.

Editor's note: Do you agree with this expert's response? If you have more to share, post it in one of our .bphAaR2qhqA^0@/searchstorage>discussion forums.


This was first published in April 2003

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