Fiber Channel Card Number

A Fibre Channel card can be identified by its manufacturer part number, such as Cisco's CIVS-FC-1P, and each port on the card has a unique WWPN (World Wide Port Name).

Part Number of Fibre Channel Cards

Fibre Channel cards, also known as FC adapters or HBAs (Host Bus Adapters), are hardware components that enable servers to connect directly to storage arrays over a Fibre Channel network. Each card is assigned a manufacturer-specific part number for identification and ordering purposes. For example, Cisco's Multiservices Platform Series offers a Fibre Channel card with the part number CIVS-FC-1P . Supermicro and other vendors also provide Fibre Channel cards with distinct part numbers for their networking adapters . These part numbers are used to ensure compatibility with specific server models and SAN configurations.

Unique Port Identifiers (WWPN)

Each Fibre Channel port on a card has a World Wide Port Name (WWPN), which is a globally unique identifier assigned by the card manufacturer. The WWPN is used to identify the port in SAN management, zoning, and LUN mapping. For example, a QLogic FC card may have ports with WWPNs like 2000000e1ec95100 and 2000000e1ec95101 . These identifiers are critical for configuring SAN access, monitoring link status, and troubleshooting connectivity issues.

Additional Information

Fibre Channel cards support various speeds (4Gb, 8Gb, 16Gb, etc.) and port types (N-port, NL-port) depending on the model . When managing SAN devices, commands like fcinfo on Unix/Linux systems can display the card's port information, including Port ID, Node WWN, firmware version, and link statistics . This allows administrators to track and manage multiple FC cards and their connections efficiently. In summary, the Fiber Channel card number can refer to the manufacturer part number for the card itself or the WWPN for each port, both of which are essential for identification, configuration, and management in a SAN environment .