This increase in distance revolutionizes the LAN concept. For most networking stacks, a datagram or data packet simply maps directly onto the fibre-channel sequence. Early in fibre channel's development, ANSI established several topologies, including Fabric, Point to Point, and Arbitrated Loop. The cheapest topology to implement was the Arbitrated Loop. This loop connects to the computer's backplane in two places, letting data transfer quickly from device to device.
Communication relies solely on devices in between.
You can build redundancy into an arbitrated loop, and you can connect independent loops. Another advantage is speed. A single arbitrated loop can transfer data at 100MBps, and a dual arbitrated loop can transfer data at 200MBps. However, a real-world environment seldom achieves speeds such as these peak burst rates. The architecture will probably soon make its way into video streaming and comparable environments.