Fibre Channel

Fibre Channel (FC) is a high-speed technology for storage area networks (SANs). Unlike conventional data networks, FC is designed exclusively for block storage devices.

In a data center, storage networks are isolated from client and/or service traffic networks. This approach eliminates workload interference and guarantees predictable I/O performance.

Use cases

  • Data storage and access: Servers access block devices of any size.

  • Flexible expansion: Drives can be expanded on the fly without requiring a reboot of the operating system.

  • Performance: Depending on the plan, clients can choose the IOPS and throughput levels.

  • OS boot over the network: The server can operate entirely without local drives, booting from the SAN.

  • Fault tolerance: Multipath support ensures access to the same drive via multiple paths, eliminating downtime in the event of a switch or port failure.

There are two key points to consider when working with Fibre Channel:

  • OS Boot: For installation, you must select a boot LUN in the HBA settings and specify it in the BIOS.

  • Multipath: The same disk can appear multiple times in the system (based on the number of paths). For proper operation, multipath must be enabled. Modern operating systems (Linux, Windows, VMware ESXi) support this out of the box.

Connection Parameters

To view the dedicated server’s Fibre Channel connection parameters:

  1. In the Control panel go to the Infrastructure → Dedicated Servers section.

  2. Open the selected server card by clicking the More button.

  3. The SAN section displays the Fibre Channel connection parameters.

The parameters are grouped in a table with the following fields:

  • WWN (World Wide Name) — the unique identifier of the Fibre Channel adapter. Used when configuring zoning and LUN mapping.

  • Port — the interface speed and type (e.g., Fibre Channel 8 Gbit/s).

  • Fabric — the fabric name (A, B, etc.). Having multiple fabrics ensures redundancy: if one fabric is unavailable, disk access is maintained through the other.

  • Status — the current state of the SAN connection.

This data allows you to verify that both connections (A and B) are active, ensuring fault tolerance, and to verify the adapter’s WWN if you need to manually configure LUN access or contact support.