This American National Standard for FC-SW-6 describes the operation and interaction of Fibre Channel Switches. This standard includes: a) E_Port operation and Fabric Configuration; b) path selection (FSPF); c) Bridge port (B_Port) operation; d) distributed Server interaction and communication; e) exchange of information between Switches to support Zoning; f) distribution of Event Notifications between Switches; g) Virtual Fabrics Switch Support; h) Enhanced Commit Service; i) Virtual Channels; and j) Distributed Switch.