IP and ARP over Fibre Channel
RFC 2625

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Network Working Group                                       M. Rajagopal
Request for Comments: 2625                                    R. Bhagwat
Category: Standards Track                                     W. Rickard
                                                        Gadzoox Networks
                                                               June 1999

                     IP and ARP over Fibre Channel

Status of this Memo

   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   Fibre Channel (FC) is a high speed serial interface technology that
   supports several higher layer protocols including Small Computer
   System Interface (SCSI) and Internet Protocol(IP). Until now, SCSI
   has been the only widely used protocol over FC. Existing FC standards
   [3] do not adequately specify how IP packets may be transported over
   FC and how IP addresses are resolved to FC addresses. The purpose of
   this document is to specify a way of encapsulating IP and Address
   Resolution Protocol(ARP) over Fibre Channel and also to describe a
   mechanism(s) for IP address resolution.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ...............................................  3
   2. Problem Statement ..........................................  5
   3. IP and ARP Encapsulation ...................................  5
      3.1 FC Frame Format ........................................  5
      3.2 MTU ....................................................  7
          3.2.1 IP MTU ...........................................  7
          3.2.2 Maximally Minimum IPv4 packet ....................  8
          3.2.3 ARP MTU ..........................................  8
          3.2.4 FC Data Field containing FARP Packet .............  9
      3.3 FC Port and Node Network Addresses .....................  9
      3.4 FC Sequence Payload Format ............................. 10
      3.5 Bit and Byte Ordering .................................. 12
   4. ARP ........................................................ 12

Rajagopal, et al.           Standards Track                     [Page 1]
RFC 2625             IP and ARP over Fibre Channel             June 1999

      4.1 Address Resolution  .................................... 12
      4.2 ARP Packet Format ...................................... 13
      4.3 ARP Layer Mapping and Operation ........................ 15
      4.4 ARP Broadcast in a Point-to-Point Topology ............. 16
      4.5 ARP Broadcast in a Private Loop Topology ............... 16
      4.6 ARP Broadcast in a Public Loop Topology ................ 16
      4.7 ARP Operation in a Fabric Topology ..................... 17
   5. FARP ....................................................... 18
      5.1 Scope .................................................. 18
      5.2 FARP Overview .......................................... 18
      5.3 FARP Command Format .................................... 20
      5.4 Match Address Code Points .............................. 22
      5.5 Responder Flags ........................................ 23
      5.6 FARP Support Requirements .............................. 24
   6. Exchange Management ........................................ 25
      6.1 Exchange Origination ................................... 25
      6.2 Exchange Termination ................................... 25
   7. Summary of Supported Features .............................. 25
      7.1 FC-4 Header ............................................ 25
      7.2 R_CTL .................................................. 26
      7.3 F_CTL .................................................. 27
      7.4 Sequences .............................................. 28
      7.5 Exchanges .............................................. 29
      7.6 ARP  and InARP ......................................... 30
      7.7 Extended Link Services (ELS) ........................... 31
      7.8 Login Parameters ....................................... 31
          7.8.1 Common Service Parameters  - FLOGI ............... 32
          7.8.2 Common Services Parameters - PLOGI ............... 32
          7.8.3 Class Service Parameters - PLOGI ................. 32
   8. Security Considerations .................................... 32
      8.1 IP and ARP Related ..................................... 32
      8.2 FC Related ............................................. 32
   9. Acknowledgements ........................................... 33
   10. References ................................................ 33
   11. Authors' Addresses ........................................ 35