Hardware Reference Manual

Brocade M6505 16 Gbps Fibre Channel SAN I/O Module Hardware Reference Manual 5

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ISL trunking groups

If your SAN I/O Module has an optional Brocade ISL Trunking license, external ports can form

trunking groups of ISLs between adjacent switches. ISL Trunking optimizes the performance and

availability of SAN fabrics while simplifying ISL management.

All external ports (0, 17 through 23) can be formed into a single 8-port trunk, or any combination of

2- to 7-port trunk. For details about Brocade ISL Trunking, refer to the Fabric OS Administrator’s

Guide.

NOTE

Only the external ports are available for trunking.

Access Gateway and Native Fabric modes

The SAN I/O Module can function in either Native Fabric mode or Brocade Access Gateway mode.

The SAN I/O Module is shipped in Access Gateway (AG) mode by default.

Access Gateway simplifies SAN deployment by using NPIV (N_Port ID Virtualization) technology.

mode improves SAN I/O Module scalability, manageability, and interoperability. For more

information on Access Gateway, refer to the Brocade Access Gateway Administrator’s Guide.

NOTE

Access Gateway cannot be connected directly into a storage array unless one of the external ports

is connected to a SAN network.

Access Gateway mode

The SAN I/O Module provides support for the following when operating in AG mode:

• Up to 8 auto-sensing (4, 8, and 16 Gbps) Fibre Channel ports. These are universal and

self-configuring ports that are capable of becoming the following types:

- F_Port (fabric-enabled)

- N_Port (NPIV-enabled)

• Up to 16 internal backplane F_Ports. Each port can automatically negotiate its speed at either

16 Gbps or 8 Gbps to match the speed of attached devices

• Dynamic fabric provisioning that supports fabric-assigned WWNs