How to connect 2 macs directly using fibre channels?

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Level 1

4 points

How to connect 2 macs directly using fibre channels?

Hi - I've almost given up! I have 2 mac pro's one running High Sierra and the other 10.9.5 Both have Fibre cards in and I have connected the 2 together, they show as connected in the fibre control system pref. I can see no way to set tcp/ip over fibere..can this be done? Or is there another way? many thanks - I'm tearing my hair out thinking I have bought cards and cables and it's not going to work!

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8), Quad-core 3Ghz Xeon, 12Gb Ram

Posted on Jul 24, 2018 8:27 AM

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Answer 1

Aug 24, 2018 6:45 AM in response to Shakey.Jakey

I have not used Fibre Channel on Mac so the following may be incorrect.

Firstly Fibre Channel aka FDDI is normally used to connect a computer to storage, it is not normally used to connect two computers. It is possible to connect a computer directly to the storage device, it is also possible to connect via a FDDI switch which would then make it possible for multiple computers to access the same storage. The later is what is known as a SAN - Storage Area Network.

So, I cannot say for certain that simply linking two Macs is going to be possible.

Saying that try the following steps.

Fit the card in each Mac Pro, presuming you have old classic Macs these will be PCI cards. If you have the newer round Mac Pro then you will need a Thunderbolt2 to FDDI adapter
If needed install the drivers for the FDDI interface
Now open System Preferences, then go to Network
In Network click on the + symbol in the bottom left corner
It should list various types of interface you can add, see if the Fibre Channel card is listed, if so chose it
If the Fibre Channel card was listed and you added it, now give it a manual TCP/IP address

Note: Do not confuse Fibre Channel with 10Gbps Ethernet over Fibre. These are different protocols and physical interfaces.

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Answer 2

Aug 24, 2018 8:14 AM in response to Shakey.Jakey

Based on your experience I would have to conclude you cannot do it although I think in principle it should be possible.

The opposite way round is more common, that is to run SAN protocols over Ethernet, this is called iSCSI and is still widely done with Macs.

You could get two 10Gbps Ethernet cards and link your Macs via them e.g. https://www.sonnetstore.com/products/solo10g-pcie-card newer Macs can use even faster Thunderbolt to Ethernet adapters but you can also of course directly link two Macs via Thunderbolt.

Note: The above is a cheaper 10g over copper card, for a Fibre equivalent they also do this one http://www.sonnettech.com/product/presto10gbesfp.html

What make of FDDI card are they?

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Answer 3

Shakey.Jakey Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 25, 2018 1:26 PM in response to John Lockwood

Hi John, Yeah there are other options - I happen to have been offered 2 Apple cards and bought some cables....maybe wasted unfortunately.

Vendor: LSILogic

Product: LSI7204EP

Revision: Firmware 1.3.14.0, EFI 1.05.03.00

Vendor: LSILogic

Product: LSI7204EP

Revision: Firmware 1.3.20.0, EFI 1.05.05.00

Fibre Channel Domain 0:

Vendor: LSILogic

Product: LSI7204EP

Revision: Firmware 1.3.14.0, EFI 1.05.03.00

Bus: PCI

Slot: Slot-3

Initiator Identifier: 126

Node World Wide Name: 20:00:00:06:2B:12:09:7C

Port World Wide Name: 10:00:00:06:2B:12:09:7C

Address Identifier: 00:00:02

AL_PA: 0x01

Description: Port 0

Speed: 4 Gigabit

Topology: Automatic

Status: Link Established

Cable Type: Active Copper

As you can see link is established so unless I have a setting wrong somewhere it looks like I've wasted money and drawn a blank!

Jake

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Answer 4

Shakey.Jakey Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 24, 2018 7:43 AM in response to John Lockwood

Hi - Firstly many thanks for the reply....I was beginning to give up all hope! I appreciate it. The cards in my machines both work, I have new fibre cables and in the Fibre Channel utility I can establish a poit to point connection for both channels. What I can't find any way to do is to set up TCP/ip over Fibre.. My networking prefs do not list Fibre as an option

It seems that both machines know the other one is there but can't talk to each other via Fibre. Point to point seems to link ok, maybe I have to have a switch in the middle though I can't see any logic why? It's not the end of the world as both my mac pros have 2 ethernet ports and I can make a direct link that way....but having bought the Fibre cards and cables it would be nice & faster to make use of them Any help is greatly appreciated.

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How to connect 2 macs directly using fibre channels?

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