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Switched fabric or switching fabric is a network topology in which network nodes interconnect via one or more network switches [1] (particularly crossbar switches).Because a switched fabric network spreads network traffic across multiple physical links, it yields higher total throughput than broadcast networks, such as the early 10BASE5 version of Ethernet and most wireless networks such as Wi-Fi.
Fibre Channel networks form a switched fabric because the switches in a network operate in unison as one big switch. Fibre Channel typically runs on optical fiber cables within and between data centers, but can also run on copper cabling.
It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also used as either a direct or switched interconnect between servers and storage systems, as well as an interconnect between storage systems. It is designed to be scalable and uses a switched fabric network topology.
The fabric is a network of Fibre Channel devices which allows many-to-many communication, device name lookup, security, and redundancy. FC switches implement zoning, a mechanism that disables unwanted traffic between certain fabric nodes. Fibre Channel switches may be deployed one at a time or in larger multi-switch configurations.
Within a switched or mixed fabric, a set of auxiliary servers, including a name server for device discovery and network address resolution. Fibre Channel network topologies consist of the following: Arbitrated Loop—A series of N_PORTs connected together in daisy-chain fashion. Switched Fabric—A network consisting of switching elements.
While the term "fabric" has also been used in association with storage area networks and with switched fabric networking, the introduction of compute resources provides a complete "unified" computing system. [citation needed] Other terms used to describe such fabrics include "unified fabric", [4] "data center fabric" and "unified data center ...
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In telephone switches, time-slot interchange switches usually form the outer layer of the switching fabric at a central office's switch. They take data from time-multiplexed T-1 or E-1 lines that serve neighborhoods. The T-1 or E-1 lines serve the subscriber line interface cards (SLICs) in local neighborhoods.