Deployment Guide

NPIV
● NPIV overview...............................................................................................................439
● Configuring NPIV.......................................................................................................... 441
● Enabling and disabling NPIV.........................................................................................442
● Base device logout........................................................................................................442
● Viewing NPIV port configuration information.................................................................447
NPIV overview
N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) enables a single Fibre Channel protocol port to appear as multiple,
distinct ports, providing separate port identification within the fabric for each operating system image
behind the port (as if each operating system image had its own unique physical port). NPIV assigns a
different virtual port ID to each Fibre Channel protocol device. NPIV is designed to enable you to
allocate virtual addresses without affecting your existing hardware implementation. The virtual port has
the same properties as an N_Port, and is therefore capable of registering with all services of the fabric.
This chapter does not discuss the Access Gateway feature. For more information on the Access
Gateway feature, refer to the Access Gateway Administrator's Guide.
Each NPIV device has a unique device PID, Port WWN, and Node WWN, and behaves the same as all
other physical devices in the fabric. In other words, multiple virtual devices emulated by NPIV appear no
different than regular devices connected to a non-NPIV port.
The same zoning rules apply to NPIV devices as non-NPIV devices. Zones can be defined by
domain,port notation, by WWN-based zoning, or both. However, to perform zoning to the granularity of
the virtual N_Port IDs, you must use WWN-based zoning.
If you are using domain,port zoning for an NPIV port, and all the virtual PIDs associated with the port
are included in the zone, then a port login (PLOGI) to a non-existent virtual PID is not blocked by the
switch; rather, it is delivered to the device attached to the NPIV port. In cases where the device is not
capable of handling such unexpected PLOGIs, use WWN-based zoning.
The following example shows the number of NPIV devices in the output of the switchShow command.
The number of NPIV devices is equal to the sum of the base port plus the number of NPIV public
devices. The base port is the N_Port listed in the switchShow output. Based on the formula, index
010000 shows only 1 NPIV device and index 010300 shows a total of 222 NPIV devices (one N_Port
FLOGI device and 221 NPIV devices).
switch:admin> switchshow
switchName: 5100
switchType: 71.2
switchState: Online
switchMode: Access Gateway Mode
switchWwn: 10:00:00:05:1e:41:49:3d
switchBeacon: OFF
Index Port Address Media Speed State Proto
==============================================
0 0 010000 id N4 Online FC F-Port 20:0c:00:05:1e:05:de:e4 0xa06601
1 1 010100 id N4 Online FC F-Port 1 N Port + 4 NPIV public
2 2 010200 id N4 Online FC F-Port 1 N Port + 119 NPIV public
3 3 010300 id N4 Online FC F-Port 1 N Port + 221 NPIV public
Fabric OS Administrators Guide
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