A Fibre Channel (FC) port is a hardware pathway into and out of a node that performs data communications over an FC link. (An FC link is sometimes called an FC channel.)
Port
|
Full Name | Port Function |
---|---|---|
N-port | network port or node port | Node port used to connect a node to a Fibre Channel switch |
F-port | fabric port | Switch port used to connect the Fibre Channel fabric to a node |
L-port | loop port | Node port used to connect a node to a Fibre Channel loop |
NL-port | network + loop port | Node port which connects to both loops and switches |
FL-port | fabric + loop port | Switch port which connects to both loops and switches |
E-port | extender port | Used to cascade Fibre Channel switches together |
G-port | general port | General purpose port which can be configured to emulate other port types |
EX_port | external port | Connection between a fibre channel router and a fibre channel switch; on the switch side, it looks like a normal E_port -- but on the router side, it is a EX_port |
TE_port | trunking E-port | Povides standard E_port functions and allows for routing of multiple virtual SANs by modifying the standard Fibre Channel frame upon ingress/egress of the VSAN environment |