HP StorageWorks Fabric OS 5.3.x administrator guide (5697-0244, November 2009)

Fabric OS 5.3.0 administrator guide 227
Figure 10 shows a metaSAN consisting of three edge fabrics connected through a 4/256 SAN Director
containing an B-Series MP Router blade with interfabric links.
Figure 10 A metaSAN with interfabric links
• Edge Fabric
A Fibre Channel fabric with targets and initiators connected through the supported platforms via an
EX_Port or VEX_Port.
• Backbone Fabric
A backbone fabric is an intermediate network that connects two or more edge fabrics. A backbone
fabric consists of at least one 400 MP Router, 4/256 SAN Director with a B-Series MP Router blade, or
MP Router and possibly a number of Fabric OS-based Fibre Channel switches. It also enables hosts and
targets in one edge fabric to communicate with devices in the other edge fabrics (see to Figure 11). A
backbone fabric also enables hosts and targets in one edge fabric to communicate with devices in
other edge or backbone fabrics.
NOTE: While the 400 MP Router and 4/256 SAN Director with a B-Series MP Router blade
facilitate communication between devices in edge fabrics with those in a backbone fabric, this is
not true of the MP Router.
• Fabric ID (FID)
Every EX_Port and VEX_Port uses the fabric ID (FID) to identify the fabric at the opposite end of the IFL.
Configure all of the EX_Ports and VEX_Ports attached to the same edge fabric with the same FID. The
FID for every edge fabric must be unique from each backbone fabric's perspective. Configure the FID
for all of the EX_Ports and VEX_Ports from a backbone fabric to uniquely reference each of the attached
edge fabrics.
When two different backbones are connected to the same edge fabric, the backbone fabric IDs must
be different but the edge fabric ID must be the same. Configuring the same backbone fabric ID for two
backbones that are connected to the same edge is invalid. In this configuration, a RASLog message
displays a warning about fabric ID overlap.
NOTE: Backbone fabrics which share connections to the same edge fabrics must have unique
backbone fabric IDs.
Edge
fabric 2
Host Target Target
Edge
fabric 1
Edge
fabric 3
Fibre
Channel
switch
Fibre
Channel
switch
E_Port
E_Port
E_Port
EX_Ports
IFL
IFL
Long Distance IFL
4/256 SAN Director with
B-Series MP Router blade
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