<s>
In	O
the	O
computer	B-General_Concept
storage	I-General_Concept
field	O
,	O
a	O
Fibre	B-Architecture
Channel	I-Architecture
switch	I-Architecture
is	O
a	O
network	B-Protocol
switch	I-Protocol
compatible	O
with	O
the	O
Fibre	B-Architecture
Channel	I-Architecture
(	O
FC	O
)	O
protocol	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
allows	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
a	O
Fibre	B-Architecture
Channel	I-Architecture
fabric	I-Architecture
,	O
that	O
is	O
the	O
core	O
component	O
of	O
a	O
storage	O
area	O
network	O
(	O
SAN	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
fabric	O
is	O
a	O
network	O
of	O
Fibre	B-Architecture
Channel	I-Architecture
devices	O
which	O
allows	O
many-to-many	B-Architecture
communication	O
,	O
device	O
name	O
lookup	O
,	O
security	O
,	O
and	O
redundancy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FC	O
switches	O
implement	O
zoning	B-Architecture
,	O
a	O
mechanism	O
that	O
disables	O
unwanted	O
traffic	O
between	O
certain	O
fabric	O
nodes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fibre	B-Architecture
Channel	I-Architecture
switches	I-Architecture
may	O
be	O
deployed	O
one	O
at	O
a	O
time	O
or	O
in	O
larger	O
multi-switch	O
configurations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
switch	O
vendors	O
offer	O
dedicated	O
high-speed	O
stacking	O
ports	O
to	O
handle	O
inter-switch	O
connections	O
(	O
similar	O
to	O
existing	O
stackable	O
Ethernet	B-Protocol
switches	I-Protocol
)	O
,	O
allowing	O
high-performance	O
multi-switch	O
configurations	O
to	O
be	O
created	O
using	O
fewer	O
switches	O
overall	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Major	O
manufacturers	O
of	O
Fibre	B-Architecture
Channel	I-Architecture
switches	I-Architecture
include	O
Brocade(Broadcom )	O
,	O
Cisco	O
Systems	O
,	O
and	O
QLogic(Marvell )	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
special	O
variety	O
of	O
a	O
FC	O
switch	O
is	O
the	O
Fibre	B-Architecture
Channel	I-Architecture
Director	I-Architecture
,	O
a	O
switch	O
meant	O
to	O
provide	O
backbone	O
infrastructure	O
in	O
a	O
fabric	O
usually	O
featuring	O
at	O
least	O
128	O
ports	O
and	O
high-availability	O
attributes	O
,	O
however	O
the	O
term	O
is	O
loose	O
and	O
varies	O
among	O
to	O
manufacturers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
director	O
term	O
itself	O
is	O
derived	O
from	O
legacy	O
ESCON	B-Device
Directors	I-Device
such	O
as	O
the	O
IBM	O
9032-005	O
.	O
</s>
