Doc. No.: PR/96-079 NEWS RELEASEIBM, SEAGATE & ADAPTEC PRESENT FIBRE CHANNEL LOOP PROPOSAL TO TC X3T11 Three X3T11 member companies propose extensions to the existing Fibre Channel Loop definitions. ST. PETERSBURG BEACH, FL, Oct. 9, 1996 - At the meetings of Technical Committee X3T11 here this week, representatives of IBM, Seagate Technology & Adaptec made public for the first time details of a Fibre Channel loop topology proposal. The effort to produce this proposal was first informally announced by James Vanderslice of IBM, Alan Shugart of Seagate Technology & Grant Saviers of Adaptec at the Data Storage Conference in San Jose, CA in September 1996. Points of Contact are listed at the end of this news release. "X3T11 is pleased to consider the proposal as part of an ongoing process of investigating further extensions to the functionality of Fibre Channel loop topologies," said Roger Cummings of Distributed Processing Technology (DPT), the Chairman of X3T11. "X3T11 has been soliciting input on this subject since December 1995 and several proposals have already been received, most notably from E-Systems & Cambex. We are gratified that three long-term member organizations of X3T11 have chosen to coordinate their efforts and to apply key technical resources to the creation of an additional proposal." Existing Fibre Channel Loop Topology An existing loop topology, called Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) is defined by approved standard document X3.272-1996. The FC-AL definition has been stable for a considerable period, and products conforming to FC-AL are currently shipping from more than 15 companies. The next significant FC-AL products demonstrations are planned for COMDEX/Fall '96, scheduled for November 18-22 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Loop Proposals The proposals already presented to X3T11 have addressed the addition of isochronous capabilities, and techniques for increasing the total bandwidth, that can be supported in a loop topology. These ideas have increased the cost- effectiveness and performance of such a topology in broadcast video, real-time control, distributed simulation and parallel processing applications. The proposal presented this week involves the addition of link-level flow control. All of the proposals involve the definition of some new Start-Of-Frame delimiters, other low-level control functions , topology rules and extensions to the existing FC flow- control schemes. However the proposals provide backwards compatibility to the transceiver definitions, coding scheme & frame structure defined by the Fibre Channel Physical & Signaling Interface (FC-PH) standard, X3.230-1994. The standardization review and approval process ensures that any approved standard will be incremental extensions to the existing FC hardware and software, preserve FC-AL functionality and are compatible with existing FC implementations at all supported speeds (25, 50, 100, 200 & 400 megabytes/s). In addition, the open architecture of Fibre Channel ensures that any devices incorporating the new loop functionality will also operate in an existing FC-AL configuration. "The goal is to extend FC loop topologies to support significant additional applications," said Horst Truestedt, of IBM (Rochester, MN) the International Representative of X3T11, Chief Architect of FC-AL, and the facilitator of this week's presentations to X3T11. Timetable X3T11 has established a timetable for the creation of additional FC loop topology definitions. A decision is scheduled to be taken in December 1996 on which functionality from the various proposals is to be further developed. At that point a decision may be taken to incorporate the functionality into one of the existing projects within X3T11. About Fibre Channel Fibre Channel is a high-speed data transfer interface that can be used to interconnect workstations, mainframes, supercomputers and storage devices. Its open architecture and support of most major network protocols and mass storage command sets allows it to serve as a single standard for networking, storage and high-speed data transfer. Fibre Channel is designed to meet the requirements of the new breed of data and communications intensive applications being developed for business, government and academic institutions that typically require high-storage and fast data transfer solutions. It supports both loop topologies for excellent cost-performance, and switched topologies for large system bandwidths. ANSI, X3 and Technical Committee X3T11 The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a 76-year-old, non profit organization that coordinates and administers the development of U.S. voluntary national standards. It is the U.S. member body of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electromechanical Commission (IEC). ANSI's membership consists of approximately 1,300 companies; 35 government agencies; and more than 260 technical, trade, labor and consumer groups. X3T11 is a Technical Committee operating under X3, which is an Accredited Standards Committee of ANSI and tasked with the development of standards in the field of Information Technology. X3T11 is the creator of the Fibre Channel (FC), High-Performance Parallel Interface (HIPPI) and Intelligent Peripheral Interface (IPI) families of standards documents. It has a membership of 72 leading organizations in the fields of computer systems, mass storage, networking and interconnections. All individuals or organizations with an interest are invited to participate. X3T11 meets bimonthly, in varying locations, with an average attendance of in excess of 125 people. The next X3T11 meetings are December 2-6, 1996 in Minneapolis, MN & February 3-7, 1997 in San Jose, CA. Points of Contact: Roger Cummings, DPT, X3T11 Chair, (407)830-5522 x348, cummings_roger@dpt.comHorst Truestedt, IBM, X3T11 IR, (507) 253-4101, truested@rchvmx.vnet.ibm.com
Brenda Christensen, Brocade Communications, Fibre Channel Association Chair, (408) 588-4123, brenda@brocadesys.com
Mike Fitzpatrick, Seagate, Fibre Channel Loop Community Chair, (405) 324-3478, mike_fitzpatrick@notes.seagate.com
Skip Jones, QLogic, (714) 668-5058, sk_jones@qlc.com
Robert Passmore, Digital Equipment Corp., passmore@subsys.enet.dec.com
Lynn Barra, ASC X3, 202-626-5738, lbarra@itic.nw.dc.us