Host terminology
The following terms apply to hosts.
| Component | Definition |
|---|---|
| CHAP secret | The Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) method validates the identity of targets and initiators during the initial link. Authentication is based on a shared security key called a CHAP secret. You can set or change the CHAP secret for iSCSI hosts. |
| Controller host port | A controller host port is a port on the controller that provides the physical connection to a host and is used for I/O operations. |
| HBA or Network Interface Card (NIC) | A host bus adapter (HBA) is a board that resides in a host and contains one or more host ports. |
| Host | A host is a server that sends I/O to a volume on a storage array. |
| Host cluster | A host cluster is a group of hosts. You create a host cluster to make it easy to assign the same volumes to multiple hosts. |
| Host interface protocol | A host interface protocol is the connection (such as Fibre Channel, iSCSI, etc.) between the controllers and the hosts. |
| Host name | The host name should equate to the system name of the host. |
| Host operating system type | The host operating system type is a configuration setting that defines how the controllers in the storage array react to I/O depending on the operating system (or variant) of the host. This is also sometimes called host type for short. |
| Host port | A host port is a port on a host bus adapter (HBA) that provides the physical connection to a controller and is used for I/O operations. |
| Host port identifier | A host port identifier is a unique world-wide name associated with each host port on a host bus adapter (HBA).
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| LUN | A logical unit number (LUN) is the number assigned to the address space that a host uses to access a volume. The volume is presented to the host as capacity in the form of a LUN. Each host has its own LUN address space. Therefore, the same LUN can be used by different hosts to access different volumes. |