Administrator Guide

Web Tools Administrator’s Guide 85
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Chapter
6
Enabling ISL Trunking
In this chapter
•ISL Trunking overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
•Disabling or enabling ISL Trunking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
•Viewing trunk group information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
•F_Port trunk groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
ISL Trunking overview
Inter-Switch Link (ISL) Trunking optimizes network performance by forming trunking groups that can
distribute traffic between switches across a shared bandwidth.
A trunking license is required on each switch that participates in the trunk. For details on obtaining
and installing licensed features, refer to “Licensed feature management” on page 43. For
additional information about ISL Trunking, refer to the Fabric OS Administrator’s Guide.
You must use Web Tools with the EGM license to create ISL trunk groups and to manage F_Port
trunks.
The EGM license is required only for 8 Gbps platforms, such as the following:
• Brocade Encryption Switch
• Brocade 300, 5300, and 5100 switches
• Brocade VA-40FC
• Brocade 8000
• Brocade 7800
For non-8 Gbps platforms, all functionality is available without EGM license.
For detailed information about ISL Trunking configurations and criteria, refer to the Fabric OS
Administrator’s Guide.
Disabling or enabling ISL Trunking
The trunking feature requires using Web Tools with the EGM license. If you attempt to use this
feature without the EGM license, an error message displays.
When the trunking license is activated, trunks are automatically established on eligible ISLs and
trunking capability is enabled by default on all ports. Trunking is not supported on logical ports or
GbE ports.
To disable trunking on a port, or to re-enable trunking if it has been disabled, perform the following
steps.