HP StorageWorks 2/16V Brocade Glossary (53-1000040-03, November 2006) - Page 6

Glossary AL_PA Arbitrated-loop physical address. A unique 8-bit value assigned during loop initialization to a port in an arbitrated loop. AL_TIME Arbitrated-loop timeout value. Twice the amount of time it would take for a transmission word to propagate around a worst-case loop. The default value is 15 milliseconds (ms). alias A logical grouping of elements in a fabric. An alias is a collection of port numbers and WWNs, used to simplify the entry of port numbers and WWNs when creating zones. alias address An address identifier recognized by a port in addition to its standard identifier. An alias address identifier identifier can be shared by multiple ports. See also alias. alias AL_PA An AL_PA value recognized by an L_Port in addition to the AL_PA assigned to the port. See also AL_PA. alias object A name assigned to a device or group of devices to enable easy configuration of multiple devices in the zone database. See also zone object. alias server A fabric software facility that supports multicast group management. ARB Arbitrative primitive signal. Applies only to an arbitrated-loop topology. Transmitted as the fill word by an L_Port to indicate that the port is arbitrating access to the loop. arbitrated loop A shared 100-Mbit/sec Fibre Channel transport structured as a loop. Can support up to 126 devices and one fabric attachment. See also topology. arbitration A method of gaining orderly access to a shared-loop topology. area number A logical numeric identifier for a physical port. In Brocade Fabric OS v4.0 and above, ports on a switch are assigned a logical port area number. Port area numbers can be viewed by entering the switchShow command. They are used to define the operative port for many Fabric OS commands: for example, area numbers can be used to define the ports within an alias or zone. ARR Asynchronous response router. Refers to Management Server GS_Subtype Code E4, which appears in portLogDump command output. ASIC Application-specific integrated circuit. ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode. A protocol for transmitting data over LANs or WANs that transmits fixed-length units of data. Provides any-to-any connectivity and allows SAN devices to transmit simultaneously. audit event Fabric OS events that are logged. When managing SANs, you may wish to filter, or audit, certain classes of events to ensure that you can view and generate a "paper trail" for what is happening on a switch. authentication The process of verifying through a password that an entity in a fabric, such as a switch, should or should not have access to the fabric. See also digital certificate and switch-to-switch authentication. 2 Brocade Glossary Publication Number: 53-1000040-03