Administrator Guide

460 Fabric OS Administrator’s Guide
53-1002920-02
Licensing requirements for D_Port
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D_Port functionality is supported on the following HBAs:
• Brocade 16-Gbps HBA (Brocade Fabric Adapter 1860) ports operating in HBA mode with a
16-Gbps SFP+ on Brocade 16-Gbps switches running Fabric OS version 7.1 or later.
Brocade HBA v3.1 provides limited support for D_Port. Brocade HBA v3.2 provides extensive
support for D_Port, including dynamic D_Port mode.
• Non-Brocade 16-Gbps HBA (Must have HBA D_Port support.)
For applicable topologies, refer to “Supported topologies” on page 463.
Licensing requirements for D_Port
The D_Port feature does not require a license if you are running tests between a pair of Brocade
devices, whether the devices are switches, Access Gateways, or HBAs.
If you want to run D_Port tests between a switch and a non-Brocade HBA, the Fabric Vision license
is required. Also, the HBA vendor must have implemented the Brocade HBA D_Port support.
Understanding D_Port
A port in D_Port mode does not carry any user traffic, and is designed to run only specific
diagnostics tests for identifying link-level faults or failures.
To bring up a port in D_Port mode, you must configure both ends of the link between a given pair of
switches (or switches configured as Access Gateways), and you must disable the existing port
before you can configure it as a D_Port. Figure 58 illustrates an example D_Port connection
between a pair of switches through SFP transceivers (port assignments will vary). For all topologies
supported, refer to “Supported topologies” on page 463.
FIGURE 58 Example of a basic D_Port connection between switches
TABLE 75 Supported platforms for D_Port
Product Fabric OS release and later
Brocade DCX 8510-4 Backbone v7.0.0
Brocade DCX 8510-8 Backbone v7.0.0
Brocade 6505 switch v7.0.1
Brocade 6510 switch v7.0.0
Brocade 6520 switch v7.1.0