Fabric OS Administrator's Guide v7.0.0 (53-1002148-02, June 2011)

Fabric OS Administrator’s Guide 41
53-1002148-02
Ports
3
Port identification by port area ID
The relationship between the port number and area ID depends upon the PID format used in the
fabric. When Core PID format is in effect, the area ID for port 0 is 0, for port 1 is 1, and so forth.
For 32-port blades (FC8-32, FC16-32), the numbering is contiguous up to port 15; from port 16, the
numbering is still contiguous, but starts with 128. For example, port 15 in slot 1 has a port number
and area ID of 15; port 16 has a port number and area ID of 128; port 17 has a port number and
area ID of 129.
For 48-port blades (FC8-48, FC16-48), the numbering is the same as for 32-port blades for the first
32 ports on the blade. For ports 32 through 47, area IDs are not unique and port index should be
used instead of area ID.
For the 64-port blade (FC8-64), the numbering is the same as for 32-port blades for the first 32
ports on the blade. For ports 32 through 64, area IDs are not unique and port index should be used
instead of area ID.
If you perform a port swap operation, the port number and area ID no longer match. On 48-port
blades, port swapping is supported only on ports 0–15.
To determine the area ID of a particular port, enter the switchShow command. This command
displays all ports on the current (logical) switch and their corresponding area IDs.
Port identification by index
With the introduction of 48-port blades, indexing was introduced. Unique area IDs are possible for
up to 255 areas, but beyond that there needed to be some way to ensure uniqueness.
A number of fabric-wide databases supported by Fabric OS (including ZoneDB, the ACL DDC, and
Admin Domain) allow a port to be designated by the use of a “D,P” (domain,port) notation. While
the “P” component appears to be the port number, for up to 255 ports it is actually the area
assigned to that port.
ATTENTION
Port area schema does not apply to the Brocade DCX-4S and DCX 8510-4 enterprise-class
platforms.
If two ports are changed using the portSwap command, their respective areas and “P” values are
exchanged.
For ports that are numbered above 255, the “P” value is actually a logical index. The first 256 ports
continue to have an index value equal to the area_ID assigned to the port. If a switch is using Core
PID format, and no port swapping has been done, the port index value for all ports is the same as
the physical port numbers. Using portSwap on a pair of ports will exchange those ports’ area_ID
and index values.
NOTE
The portSwap command is not supported for ports above 256.