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fabric	[Network] Synonym for a network.
Fabric Login	[Fibre Channel] The process by which a Fibre Channel node establishes a logical connection to a Fibre Channel Fabric Switch.
Fabric Provided MAC Address	[Network] A MAC address that is assigned by an FCF and is fabric-wide unique.
Fabric_Identifier	An identifier assigned to each Fabric in an Inter-Fabric Routing environment.
Fabric_Name	[Fibre Channel] A Name_Identifier associated with a Fibre Channel Fabric.
failback	[Computer System] The restoration of a failed system component's share of a load to a replacement component after a failback event. When a failed controller in a redundant configuration is replaced, the devices that were originally controlled by the failed controller are usually failed back to the replacement controller to restore the I/O balance, and to restore failure tolerance. Similarly, when a defective fan or power supply is replaced, its load, previously borne by a redundant component can be failed back to the replacement part.
failed over	[Computer System] A mode of operation for failure tolerant systems in which a component has failed and its function has been assumed by a redundant component. A system that protects against single failures operating in failed over mode may not be failure tolerant, since failure of the redundant component may render the system unable to function. Some systems (e.g., clusters) are able to tolerate more than one failure; these remain failure tolerant until no redundant component is available to protect against further failures.
failover	[Computer System] The automatic substitution of a functionally equivalent system component for a failed one. The term failover is most often applied to intelligent controllers connected to the same storage devices and host computers. If one of the controllers fails, failover occurs, and the survivor takes over its I/O load.
failure tolerance	[Computer System] Synonym for fault tolerance.
fanout	[Storage System] The number of storage devices to which a storage controller is connected.
fast SCSI	[SCSI] A form of SCSI that provides 10 megatransfers per second. Wide fast SCSI has a 16-bit data path, and transfers 20 MBytes per second. Narrow fast SCSI transfers 10 MBytes per second. See wide SCSI, Ultra SCSI, Ultra2 SCSI, Ultra3 SCSI.
fault domain	[Hardware] A set of hardware components that share a single point of failure.
fault tolerance	[Computer System] The ability of a system to continue to perform its function (possibly at a reduced performance level) when one or more of its components has failed. Fault tolerance in disk subsystems is often achieved by including redundant instances of components whose failure would make the system inoperable, coupled with facilities that allow the redundant components to assume the function of failed ones.
FBA	[Storage System] Acronym for Fixed Block Architecture. Acronym for Fixed Block Address.
FC	[Fibre Channel] Abbreviation for Fibre Channel.
FC Entity	[Fibre Channel] The interface between a Fibre Channel Switch or a Fibre Channel stack and the FCoE Entity. Each FC Entity contains a single instance of either a VE_Port, a VF_Port, or a VN_Port.
FC-0	[Fibre Channel] The level that encompasses the physical characteristics of the interface and data transmission media.
FC-1	[Fibre Channel] The level that encompasses the encoding and transmission protocol.
FC-2	[Fibre Channel] The level that encompasses signaling protocol rules and the organization of data into frames, Sequences, and Exchanges.
FC-2M	[Fibre Channel] The sublevel that routes frames between VN_Ports and Link Control Facilities, based on the D_ID in the Frame_Header and the VF_ID in the VFT_Header if there is a VFT_Header.
FC-2P	[Fibre Channel] The physical sublevel that defines the rules and provides mechanisms that shall be used to transfer frames via the FC-1 level.
FC-2V	[Fibre Channel] The virtual sublevel that defines functions and facilities that a VN_Port may provide for use by an FC-4 level, regardless of the FC-1 that is used.
FC-3	[Fibre Channel] The level that defines a set of services that are available in a Fabric.
FC-4	[Fibre Channel] The level that encompasses the mapping of upper layer protocols (ULP) such as IP and SCSI to lower protocol layers (FC-0 through FC-3). Examples of FC-4 standards are the mapping of SCSI commands to Fibre Channel (FCP), mapping of Single-Byte Command Code Sets (FC-SB), and the mapping of NVMe to Fibre Channel (FC-NVMe-3).
FC-AE	[Fibre Channel] Shorthand for Fibre Channel Avionics Environment.
FC-AL	[Fibre Channel] Shorthand for Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop. When used with a number, the number (e.g., FC-AL-2) denotes a version of the standard.
FC-AV	[Fibre Channel] Shorthand for Fibre Channel Audio Video.
FC-BB	[Fibre Channel] Shorthand for Fibre Channel Backbone. When used with a number, the number (e.g., FC-BB-6) denotes a version of the standard.
FC-DA	[Fibre Channel] Shorthand for Fibre Channel Device Attach. When used with a number, the number (e.g., FC-DA-2) denotes a version of the standard.
FC-FS	[Fibre Channel] Shorthand for Fibre Channel Framing and Signaling. When used with a number, the number (e.g., FC-FS-4) denotes a version of the standard.
FC-FS-4	Shorthand for Fibre Channel Framing and Signaling. When used, the number denotes a version of the spec. The listed version is current as of this writing.
FC-GS	[Fibre Channel] Shorthand for Fibre Channel Generic Services. When used with a number, the number (e.g., FC-GS-8) denotes a version of the standard.
FC-IFR	[Fibre Channel] Shorthand for Fibre Channel Inter-Fabric Routing. This standard is maintained by the INCITS Fibre Channel (T11) Technical Committee.
FC-LS	[Fibre Channel] Shorthand for Fibre Channel Link Services. When used with a number, the number (e.g., FC-LS-4) denotes a version of the standard.
FC-MI	[Fibre Channel] Shorthand for Fibre Channel Methodologies for Interconnects. When used with a number, the number (e.g., FC-MI-3) denotes a version of the standard.
FC-NVMe	[Fibre Channel] Shorthand for Fibre Channel NVMe. When used with a number, the number (e.g., FC-NVMe-3) denotes a version of the standard.
FC-PI	[Fibre Channel] Shorthand for Fibre Channel Physical Interface. When used with a number, the number (e.g., FC-PI-7) denotes a version of the standard.
FC-SB	[Fibre Channel] Shorthand for Fibre Channel Single Byte command sets. When used with a number, the number (e.g., FC-SB-6) denotes a version of the standard.
FC-SP	[Fibre Channel] Shorthand for Fibre Channel Security Protocols. When used with a number, the number (e.g., FC-SP-2) denotes a version of the standard.
FC-SW	[Fibre Channel] Shorthand for Fibre Channel Switch Fabric.
FC-VI	[Fibre Channel] Shorthand for Fibre Channel Virtual Interface. This standard is maintained by the INCITS Fibre Channel (T11) Technical Committee.
FCDF	Shorthand for Fibre Channel Data-Plane Forwarder
FCDF	[Fibre Channel] Shorthand for Fibre Channel Data-Plane Forwarder.
FCF	[Network], [Fibre Channel] Shorthand for FCoE Forwarder.
FCIA	[Fibre Channel] Shorthand for Fibre Channel Industry Association.
FCoE	[Network] Acronym for Fibre Channel over Ethernet.
FCoE Controller	[Network], [Fibre Channel] A functional entity, coupled with a Lossless Ethernet MAC, that instantiates VE_Ports, VF_Ports, and VN_Ports, and/or creates FCoE_LEPs.
FCoE Entity	[Network], [Fibre Channel] The interface between the FC Entity and a Lossless Ethernet MAC. Each FCoE Entity contains one or more FCoE_LEPs.
FCoE Forwarder	[Network], [Fibre Channel] An element of a Fibre Channel Switch with one or more lossless Ethernet MACs, each coupled with an FCoE Controller. An FCoE Forwarder (FCF) forwards FCoE frames based on the D_ID of the encapsulated Fibre Channel frames. An FCoE Forwarder may contain one or more Lossless Ethernet bridging elements and may contain a Fibre Channel Fabric interface.
FCoE Initialization Protocol	[Network], [Fibre Channel] A protocol that enables the discovery, initialization, and link maintenance of FCoE devices.
FCoE Link Endpoint	[Network], [Fibre Channel] The data forwarding component of an FCoE Entity that handles Fibre Channel frame encapsulation/decapsulation, and transmission/reception of the encapsulated frames through a single Virtual Link.
FCoE Node	[Network], [Fibre Channel] A Fibre Channel Node with one or more lossless Eethernet MACs, each coupled with an FCoE Controller.
FCoE_LEP	[Network], [Fibre Channel] Shorthand for FCoE Link Endpoint.
FCP	[Fibre Channel] Shorthand for Fibre Channel Protocol for SCSI When used with a number, the number (e.g., FCP-2) denotes a version of the standard.
FC_NVMe association	[Fibre Channel] An NVMe/FC layer abstraction specified by FC-NVMe for an exclusive communication relationship between an NVMe host and an NVMe controller connected by an initiator NVMe_Port and a target NVMe_Port.
FC_NVMe connection	[Fibre Channel] An NVMe/FC layer abstraction representing an NVMe Submission Queue and NVMe Completion Queue pair.
FC_NVMe I/O operation	[Fibre Channel] A Fibre Channel Exchange that is uniquely associated with an NVMe command.
FC_NVMe port	[Fibre Channel] An NVMe_Port connecting one or more NVMe hosts or NVM subsystems in a Fibre Channel environment.
FC_Port	[Fibre Channel] A port that is capable of transmitting and receiving Fibre Channel frames according to the FC-0, FC-1, FC-2, and FC-3 levels of the Fibre Channel standards. An FC_Port includes an LCF. The following are examples of FC_Ports: N_Ports, F_Ports, E_Ports, and B_Ports.
FEC	[Data Communication] Synonym for forward error correction.
Federal Information Processing Standard	[Data Security] Standards (and guidelines) produced by NIST for government-wide use in the specification and procurement of Federal computer systems.
Fiber Distributed Data Interface	[Network] An ANSI standard for a token ring Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs), based on the use of optical fiber cable to transmit data at a rate of 100 Mbits/second. Both optical fiber and twisted copper pair variations of the FDDI physical standard exist. FDDI is a completely separate set of standards from Fibre Channel. The two are not directly interoperable.
fibre	The international spelling of the American word fiber. The British spelling was selected for the Fibre Channel technology, though the American spelling is used to describe the fiber optic technologies defined for Fibre Channel.
Fibre Channel	[Fibre Channel] A serial I/O interconnect capable of supporting multiple protocols. Protocols supported include FCP, FICON, and IP. Fibre Channel (FC) supports switched, point-to-point, and Arbitrated Loop topologies with a variety of copper and optical links running at speeds from 1 Gb/s to 128 Gb/s. The committee standardizing Fibre Channel is the INCITS Fibre Channel (T11) Technical Committee.
Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop	[Fibre Channel] A form of Fibre Channel interconnect in which up to 126 nodes are connected in a loop topology, with each node's L_Port transmitter connecting to the L_Port receiver of the next node on the loop. The network is defined by the FC-AL standard.
Fibre Channel Audio Video	[Fibre Channel] The standard that defines the mapping of digital audio and video formats to Fibre Channel. This standard is maintained by the INCITS Fibre Channel (T11) Technical Committee.
Fibre Channel Avionics Environment	[Fibre Channel] The technical report describing a specific subset of Fibre Channel for use in defense and avionic applications.
Fibre Channel Backbone	[Network], [Fibre Channel] Standard that defines mappings for transporting Fibre Channel over different network technologies, including operation of Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE).
Fibre Channel Data-Plane Forwarder	[Fibre Channel] A simplified Fibre Channel Switch that forwards Fibre Channel frames via A_Ports and F_Ports through an FCDF switching element.
Fibre Channel Device Attach	[Fibre Channel] A technical report that selects and restricts logical options from the Fibre Channel Framing and Signaling, Fibre Channel Protocol for SCSI, Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop, Fibre Channel Generic Services, and Fibre Channel Single Byte Command Set standards. Fibre Channel Device Attach (FC-DA) standardization is the responsibility of the INCITS Fibre Channel (T11) Technical Committee
Fibre Channel Fabric	[Fibre Channel] A fabric composed of Fibre Channel entities.
Fibre Channel Framing and Signaling	[Fibre Channel] A standard describing the framing and signaling requirements for Fibre Channel links.
Fibre Channel Generic Services	[Fibre Channel] A standard describing in detail the Generic Services used for Fibre Channel management. Fibre Channel Generic Services include name services, management services, and discovery services.
Fibre Channel Industry Association	[Fibre Channel] A trade association that promotes all forms of Fibre Channel technology. See www.fcia.org.
Fibre Channel Inter-Fabric Routing	[Fibre Channel] A standard that specifies a set of protocols and methods to enable selective communication among Nx_Ports connected to different Fibre Channel Fabrics.
Fibre Channel Interaction Space	The set of Fibre Channel ports, devices, and Fabrics that are connected by Fibre Channel links or are accessible by a common instance of an administrative tool or tools.
Fibre Channel Link Services	[Fibre Channel] A series of standards describing the functions that support Fibre Channel links.
Fibre Channel Methodologies for Interconnects	[Fibre Channel] A technical report specifying common methodologies for both switched and Arbitrated Loop environments, with the intention of facilitating interoperability between devices whether they are connected in a loop or Fibre Channel Fabric topology.
Fibre Channel NVMe	[Fibre Channel] A series of standards that define the requirements for operation of the NVMe protocol in a Fibre Channel environment.
Fibre Channel over Ethernet	[Network], [Fibre Channel] A technology that encapsulates Fibre Channel frames in Ethernet frames, allowing Fibre Channel traffic to be transported over Ethernet networks.
Fibre Channel Physical Interface	[Fibre Channel] The standard that describes the point-to-point physical interface of a high-performance serial link for support of the higher level protocols associated with HIPPI, IPI, SCSI, and others.
Fibre Channel Protocol for SCSI	[Fibre Channel] The standard that defines the mapping of SCSI over Fibre Channel. Fibre Channel Protocol for SCSI (FCP) standardization is the responsibility of the INCITS T10 committee.
Fibre Channel Security Protocols	[Fibre Channel] The standard that describe the protocols used to implement security in a Fibre Channel Fabric. This standard includes the definition of protocols to authenticate Fibre Channel entities, protocols to set up session keys, protocols to negotiate the parameters required to ensure frame-by-frame integrity and confidentiality, and protocols to establish and distribute policies across a Fibre Channel Fabric.
Fibre Channel Service Protocol	A FC-4 protocol that defines all services independently of topology or fabric type.
Fibre Channel Single Byte	[Fibre Channel] The industry standard command protocol for ESCON over Fibre Channel. This is also referred to as FICON.
Fibre Channel Switch	[Fibre Channel] An entity that routes frames in a Fibre Channel Fabric.
Fibre Channel Switch Fabric	[Fibre Channel] The series of standards that describe the requirements for an interconnecting Fibre Channel Fabric consisting of one or more Fibre Channel Switches that support the Fibre Channel protocols.
Fibre Channel Virtual Interface	[Fibre Channel] A standard for application-level distributed interprocess communication. The standard is based on Intel Corporation's V1.0 Virtual Interface (VI) Architecture formerly known as VIA.
Fibre Connection	[Fibre Channel] IBM Corporation's implementation of the Fibre Channel Single Byte Command Set standards.
FICON	[Fibre Channel] IBM Corporation's implementation of the Fibre Channel Single Byte Command Set standards. FICON was developed to provide a Fibre Channel compatible implementation of Enterprise Systems Connection (ESCON).
Field Programable Gate Array	[Hardware] An integrated circuit composed of an array of transistors that may be programmed after manufacture to perform a specific function.
field replaceable unit	[Computer System] A unit or component of a system that is designed to be replaced at a customer location. A field replaceable unit (FRU) may either be customer-replaceable or replacement may require trained service personnel.
file	[File System] An abstract data object made up of (a.) data bytes stored on a storage element, (b.) a symbolic name by which the object can be uniquely identified, and (c.) a set of properties that allow the object to be managed. A file may be created and deleted and, in most file systems, be extended or contracted in size during its lifetime.
file extent	[File System] A logically contiguous region of file data.
file level deduplication	[File System] Reduction of the number of copies of a file by replacing duplicate copies with pointers to a single copy of the file. See data deduplication.
file mark	[Storage System] A data separator within a volume. Commonly used to indicate the boundary between files on a tape.
file server	[File System] A computer that serves files to clients. A file server may be a general purpose computer that is capable of hosting additional applications or a special purpose computer capable only of serving files (see filer).
file storage	[Storage System] A method of storing data as files. See block storage.
file system	[File System] A software component that imposes structure on the address space of one or more storage elements or virtual disks so that applications may deal with files. File systems are often supplied as operating system components, but are also implemented and marketed as independent software components.
file system virtualization	[File System] The act of aggregating multiple file systems into one virtual file system. Users access data objects through the virtual file system and are unaware of the underlying file systems. The act of providing different functionality, e.g., a different file access protocol, on top of one or more existing file systems.
file virtualization	[File System] The use of virtualization to present several underlying file or directory objects as one single composite file. The use of virtualization to provide HSM like properties in a storage system. The use of virtualization to present an integrated file interface where file data and metadata are managed separately in the storage system.
filer	[File System] An intelligent network node whose hardware and software are designed to provide file services to client computers. Filers are pre-programmed by vendors to provide file services. See appliance, file server.
filesystem	[File System] Synonym for file system.
Fill Word	[Fibre Channel] A transmission word that is an idle or an ARBx primitive signal. Fill words are transmitted between frames, primitive signals, and Primitive Sequences to keep a Fibre Channel network active.
FIM	[Data Recovery] Acronym for Frozen Image Method.
fingerprint	[Storage System] An identifier derived from the data, used to detect redundancy.
FIPS	[Data Security] Acronym for Federal Information Processing Standard.
firmware	[Computer System] Low-level software for booting and operating an intelligent device. Firmware generally resides in read-only memory (ROM) on the device.
First Burst	An optimization for the transmission, by an initiator, of the first DATA IU in a Data Series for a write operation.
Fixed Block Architecture	[Storage System] A data layout model in which storage space is organized as linear, dense address spaces of blocks of a fixed size. Fixed block architecture is the disk model on which SCSI is predicated. See count-key-data for an alternate approach.
fixed content	[Data Management] Content that does not change. Content that is prevented from changes by the storage container in which it is kept.
fixed content storage	[Storage System] Storage systems and technology specialized for storing fixed content .
fixed-length segmentation	[Storage System] Partitioning a byte stream into parts that are a constant number of bytes when performing compression or hash-based data deduplication. See variable-length segmentation for an alternative method.
flash	Shorthand for flash memory.
flash array	[Storage System] Synonym for solid state storage array.
flash memory	[Hardware] A type of non-volatile memory used in solid state storage .
flash memory array	[Storage System] Synonym for solid state storage array.
FLOGI	[Fibre Channel] Acronym for Fabric LOGIn.
flywheel UPS	[Energy] A UPS that uses the momentum of a spinning disk or wheel to temporarily generate electricity in the event of a power failure. Flywheel energy storage technology provides a bridge between normal power distribution and backup diesel generators and can replace conventional battery rooms.
FL_Port	[Fibre Channel] A Fibre Channel Fabric Loop port within a Fibre Channel Switch, capable of Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop operations and connected to one or more NL_Ports via a Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop.
FOB	[Solid State] The Fresh (new) Out-of-the-Box state of an FRU. Used in reference to flash storage.
forensic copy	[Data Security] An accurate bit-for-bit reproduction of the information contained on an electronic device or associated media, whose validity and integrity has been verified using an accepted algorithm. [NIST SP 800-72]
formatted capacity	[Storage System] The total amount of bytes available to be written after a system or device has been formatted for use. Formatted capacity, also called usable capacity, is less than or equal to raw capacity. It does not include areas set aside for system use, spares, RAID parity areas, checksum space, host- or filesystem-level remapping, "right sizing" of disks, disk labeling and so on. However, it may include areas that are normally reserved–such as snapshot set-asides–if they can alternatively be configured for ordinary data storage by the storage admin.
formatting	[Storage System] The preparation of a device for use by writing required information on the media. Device controllers format devices by writing block header and trailer information for every block on the device. Host software components such as volume managers and file systems format devices by writing the initial structural information required for the volume or file system to be populated with data and managed.
forward error correction	[Data Communication] A set of algorithms that perform corrections on received data.
FPGA	[Hardware] Acronym for Field Programable Gate Array.
FPMA	[Fibre Channel] Abbreviation for Fabric Provided MAC Address.
frame	[Network], [Fibre Channel] [Network] The basic unit of data transmission in a network. [Fibre Channel] The basic unit of data transmission in a Fibre Channel network. In Fibre Channel, a frame consists of: a Start-of-Frame (SOF), frame headers, data, a CRC, and an End-of-Frame (EOF). See data frame.
frame content	[Fibre Channel] The information contained in a frame between its Start-of-Frame and End-of-Frame.
Frame Scrambling	[Fibre Channel] Encoding frame content to minimize repetitive bit sequences. Frame Scrambling is used to lower the electromagnetic emission from Fibre Channel equipment.
Frame_Header	[Fibre Channel] A sequence of words in a frame that contain routing and identification information. The Frame_Header follows the SOF delimiter and any Extended_Headers in a frame.
free capacity	Deprecated synonym for free space.
free space	[Storage System], [Data Management] 1. The amount of capacity reported to an end user as unused assigned capacity. In a simple world, free space is normally the same as assigned capacity less the amount of assigned capacity already written. But restrictions such as quotas, thin provisioning, and interactions between systems using different arithmetic may cause the reported free space to vary from the actual quantity. 2. The amount of capacity reported to the storage admin as unused formatted capacity.
Front Domain	[Fibre Channel] A domain presented by a Front Domain Switch.
Front Domain Switch	[Fibre Channel] A Fibre Channel Switch within an Inter-Fabric Router that provides connectivity to the Fibre Channel Fabrics that are interconnected by the Inter-Fabric Router.
frozen image	[Data Recovery] Synonym for point in time copy.
FRU	[Computer System] Acronym for field replaceable unit.
FSP	Acronym for Fibre Channel Service Protocol.
full backup	[Data Recovery] A backup in which all of a defined set of data objects are copied, regardless of whether they have been modified since the last backup. A full backup is the basis from which incremental backups are taken. See cumulative incremental backup, differential incremental backup.
full duplex	[Data Communication] Concurrent transmission and reception of data on a single link.
Fx_Port	[Fibre Channel] A Fibre Channel Switch port capable of operating as an F_Port or FL_Port.
F_ID	[Fibre Channel] Abbreviation for Fabric_Identifier.
F_Port	[Fibre Channel] A port within a Fibre Channel Switch that provides a point-to-point link attachment to a single PN_Port. An F_Port is assumed to always refer to a port to which non-loop PN_Ports are attached to a Fibre Channel Fabric, and does not include FL_Ports.
F_Port Name	[Fibre Channel] A Name-Identifier associated with an F-Port.