HP Surestore 6164 QuickLoop User's Guide - Page 19

QuickLoop Topology QuickLoop topologies have the following characteristics: • A QuickLoop can include up to 2 switches and can support up to 126 devices. • Each particular switch can only be included in one QuickLoop. • A QuickLoop can include either all of, or a subset of, the ports on a particular switch. • Multiple quickloops can exist in a fabric of multiple switches. • Switches with quickloops enabled can exist in the same fabric as non-QuickLoop enabled switches. • A device attached to a QuickLoop can communicate with all other devices attached to the same QuickLoop. • A private device in a QuickLoop can only communicate with devices in the same QuickLoop. Existing PLDA capable host drivers need no modification to perform I/O operations with storage devices. • Public devices that are arbitrated loop capable are treated as private devices when connected to QuickLoop ports. (The fabric login, or "FLOGI," is rejected.) • Legacy devices can be used in a QuickLoop and can be attached to a fabric and operate as if in a PLDA environment. • QuickLoop functionality can be enabled or disabled for either the entire switch or for particular ports. • Each looplet in a QuickLoop has its own unshared bandwidth and can support transfer rates up to 100 MB/per second. • Multiple devices can communicate simultaneously and at full bandwidth within multiple looplets located in the same QuickLoop. • If a looplet error is detected, QuickLoop automatically takes the looplet out of service. If the error condition is cleared, the looplet is automatically re-instated. Using QuickLoop 19