Inside Fibre Channel Switching Fibre Channel switches form the
backbone for storage-area networks, but how does Fibre Channel
compare to ATM and Gigabit Ethernet? IT managers, once occupied
with streamlining and cost-cutting measures, have turned their
attention to managing the flood of information that`s critical
to their organizations` bottom lines. Enterprise storage--a
consolidated storage system that supports heterogeneous
operating systems such as Unix and Windows NT--is one solution
to the information explosion. Rather than placing information in
geographically dispersed departmental servers and storage
systems, IT managers can consolidate it and manage it from a
central location. Such consolidation places heavy pressure on
enterprise interconnect technology. On the upside, open-systems
technologies and multi-platform solutions give IT managers a
wider choice of vendors and applications from which to choose,
increasing protocol and architecture options and improving the
overall cost efficiency of enter