What Does Fabric Port (F_Port) Mean?
The fabric port (F_port) is a fabric switch port used to connect an N_port to a switch in a fiber channel topology. It uses a fiber channel point-to-point (FC-P2P) topology - a structure connecting two fiber channel devices. An F_port can only be connected to one N_port or to a peripheral device such as a host or disc operating as an N_port. An N_port is a node port connecting a node to a fiber channel switch. A fiber channel (FC) is a high-speed network technology for connecting high speed storage devices to computers. An FC also connects numerous computer systems and is ideal for connecting servers. One of the main purposes of an FC is to deliver a reliable interface for a remote operating system (OS) requiring a high bandwidth. There are also an FL_port connecting switches and loops. The FL_port is called a fabric loop port and connects to the NL_port.
Techopedia Explains Fabric Port (F_Port)
The F_port is typically a channel to the FC fabric for frames transmitted and received by an N_port. A frame is a data unit transmitted or received between network points. A fiber channel frame can usually contain up to 2112 bytes per unit. A fiber channel switch is a network switch used one at a time or in large multi-switch configurations. A switch port can be an F_Port, FL_Port or E_Port. A switch is a composed of various important modules such as:
