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FW 05.01.00 and SW 07.01.00 HP StorageWorks SAN High Availability Planning Guide (AA-RS2DC-TE, June 2003)

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Planning Considerations for Fibre Channel Topologies
107SAN High Availability Planning Guide
Fabric Scalability
A scalable fabric allows for nondisruptive addition of fabric elements (directors
and switches) or ISLs to increase the size or performance of the fabric. Scalability
also relates to investment protection. If a core edge switch is replaced with a
newer or higher port count switch, it is often valuable to use the existing switch
elsewhere in the fabric (at the edge).
Obtaining Professional Services
Planning and implementing a multi-switch fabric can be a complex and difficult
task. HP recommends that you obtain planning assistance from our professional
services organization before implementing a fabric topology.
Fabric Topology Design Considerations
This section discusses additional fabric topology design considerations, including:
■ Implications of large fabric design.
■ Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP) and IBM FICON environments in a single
fabric.
■ Multiple data transmission speeds (1.0625 and 2.125 Gbps) in a single fabric.
■ Fibre Channel distance extension.
Large Fabric Design Implications
Businesses are experiencing an unprecedented growth of information and the
requirement to maintain that information online. To meet these requirements,
Fibre Channel SANs provide the infrastructure to connect thousands of servers to
hundreds of storage devices. To provide enterprise-class SAN performance and
scalability, large fabric designs are required.
When multiple directors or switches are connected, ISL (E_Port) communication
must be established between fabric elements and the fabric must be initialized.
During fabric initialization, the fabric elements:
■ Establish the operating mode for connected E_Port pairs and exchange link
parameters (E_Port names, timeout values, class- specific information, and
flow control parameters).
■ Exchange fabric parameters, select a principal switch, and assign domain IDs
to all switches.