FIBRE CHANNEL ARCHITECTURE

A fibre channel backplane configuration is capable of modular expansion, e.g ., from 64 ports to 128 ports or 256 ports by a simple operation. The backplane includes connectors that provide permanent and jumper/vertical connections t o support 64 users port switch in a single chassis. For a 128 port switch, two 64 port chassis are used. In the 128 port configuration, the connectors are configured to provide permanent and jumper/vertical connections to make intr a- chassis and inter-chassis connections between the fabric switch and fabric input/output boards. Using jumper plugs, the jumper connectors provide vertical connections between the fibre input/output boards and fibre switch boards of two chassis. For a 256 port switch configuration, four 64 port chassis assemblies are used. The connectors are configured to provide each switch with permanent, vertical, horizontal, and diagonal connections to the fibre input/output boards of each of the four chassis.