Ethernet Fabric

Definition - What does Ethernet Fabric mean?

An Ethernet fabric network is a type of Ethernet that is aware of all its paths, nodes, requirements and resources. Ethernet fabrics are able to automatically manage themselves to scale up or down depending on demand. They also eradicate the need for the challenging and comparatively less-efficient Spanning Tree Protocol, and the redundancies it creates. When compared with traditional hierarchical Ethernet architecture, Ethernet fabric offers better functionality, utilization, accessibility and ease-of-use. Ethernet fabric systems can be incorporated with pre-existing networks.

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Techopedia explains Ethernet Fabric

The term fabric implies that the network is flat, and has the following characteristics:

Does not require layer-three routing services for scaling
Does not make use of Spanning Tree Protocol or its types for avoiding loops
Includes self-forming inter-switch links (ISL) in between switches
Makes use of all accessible ISLs that have the shortest path
Can self-heal so that if a link becomes unavailable, the traffic on other ISLs continues

Ethernet fabric networks are also:

Flatter: Eradicates the requirement for Spanning Tree Protocol, yet is still interoperable with already available Ethernet networks
Flexible: Can be easily integrated in any topology in order to efficiently satisfy the requirements associated with any kind of workload
Resilient: Uses several least-cost paths to attain significant functionality and higher stability
Elastic: Automatically scales up and down depending on the requirements