Administrator Guide
Table Of Contents
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- About This Document
- Understanding Fibre Channel Services
- Performing Basic Configuration Tasks
- Performing Advanced Configuration Tasks
- Routing Traffic
- Managing User Accounts
- Configuring Protocols
- Configuring Security Policies
- In this chapter
- ACL policies overview
- ACL policy management
- FCS policies
- DCC policies
- SCC policies
- Authentication policy for fabric elements
- IP Filter policy
- Creating an IP Filter policy
- Cloning an IP Filter policy
- Displaying an IP Filter policy
- Saving an IP Filter policy
- Activating an IP Filter policy
- Deleting an IP Filter policy
- IP Filter policy rules
- IP Filter policy enforcement
- Adding a rule to an IP Filter policy
- Deleting a rule to an IP Filter policy
- Aborting an IP Filter transaction
- IP Filter policy distribution
- Policy database distribution
- Management interface security
- Maintaining the Switch Configuration File
- Installing and Maintaining Firmware
- In this chapter
- Firmware download process overview
- Preparing for a firmware download
- Firmware download on switches
- Firmware download on an enterprise-class platform
- Firmware download from a USB device
- FIPS Support
- Test and restore firmware on switches
- Test and restore firmware on enterprise-class platforms
- Validating a firmware download
- Managing Virtual Fabrics
- In this chapter
- Virtual Fabrics overview
- Logical switch overview
- Logical fabric overview
- Management model for logical switches
- Account management and Virtual Fabrics
- Supported platforms for Virtual Fabrics
- Limitations and restrictions of Virtual Fabrics
- Enabling Virtual Fabrics mode
- Disabling Virtual Fabrics mode
- Configuring logical switches to use basic configuration values
- Creating a logical switch or base switch
- Executing a command in a different logical fabric context
- Deleting a logical switch
- Adding and removing ports on a logical switch
- Displaying logical switch configuration
- Changing the fabric ID of a logical switch
- Changing a logical switch to a base switch
- Setting up IP addresses for a Virtual Fabric
- Removing an IP address for a Virtual Fabric
- Configuring a logical switch to use XISLs
- Changing the context to a different logical fabric
- Creating a logical fabric using XISLs
- Administering Advanced Zoning
- In this chapter
- Special zones
- Zoning overview
- Broadcast zones
- Zone aliases
- Zone creation and maintenance
- Default zoning mode
- Zoning database size
- Zoning configurations
- Creating a zoning configuration
- Adding zones (members) to a zoning configuration
- Removing zones (members) from a zone configuration
- Enabling a zone configuration
- Disabling a zone configuration
- Deleting a zone configuration
- Clearing changes to a configuration
- Viewing all zone configuration information
- Viewing selected zone configuration information
- Viewing the configuration in the effective zone database
- Clearing all zone configurations
- Zone object maintenance
- Zoning configuration management
- Security and zoning
- Zone merging scenarios
- Traffic Isolation Zoning
- In this chapter
- Traffic Isolation Zoning overview
- Enhanced TI zones
- Traffic Isolation Zoning over FC routers
- General rules for TI zones
- Supported configurations for Traffic Isolation Zoning
- Limitations and restrictions of Traffic Isolation Zoning
- Admin Domain considerations for Traffic Isolation Zoning
- Virtual Fabric considerations for Traffic Isolation Zoning
- Traffic Isolation Zoning over FC routers with Virtual Fabrics
- Creating a TI zone
- Modifying TI zones
- Changing the state of a TI zone
- Deleting a TI zone
- Displaying TI zones
- Setting up TI over FCR (sample procedure)
- Administering NPIV
- Interoperability for Merged SANs
- In this chapter
- Interoperability overview
- Connectivity solutions
- Domain ID offset modes
- McDATA Fabric mode configuration restrictions
- McDATA Open Fabric mode configuration restrictions
- Interoperability support for logical switches
- Switch configurations for interoperability
- Zone management in interoperable fabrics
- Frame Redirection in interoperable fabrics
- Traffic Isolation zones in interoperable fabrics
- Brocade SANtegrity implementation in mixed fabric SANS
- E_Port authentication between Fabric OS and M-EOS switches
- FCR SANtegrity
- FICON implementation in a mixed fabric
- Fabric OS version change restrictions in an interoperable environment
- Coordinated Hot Code Load
- McDATA-aware features
- McDATA-unaware features
- Supported hardware in an interoperable environment
- Supported features in an interoperable environment
- Unsupported features in an interoperable environment
- Managing Administrative Domains
- In this chapter
- Administrative Domains overview
- Admin Domain management for physical fabric administrators
- Setting the default zoning mode for Admin Domains
- Creating an Admin Domain
- User assignments to Admin Domains
- Removing an Admin Domain from a user account
- Activating an Admin Domain
- Deactivating an Admin Domain
- Adding members to an existing Admin Domain
- Removing members from an Admin Domain
- Renaming an Admin Domain
- Deleting an Admin Domain
- Deleting all user-defined Admin Domains
- Deleting all user-defined Admin Domains non-disruptively
- Validating an Admin Domain member list
- SAN management with Admin Domains
- CLI commands in an AD context
- Executing a command in a different AD context
- Displaying an Admin Domain configuration
- Switching to a different Admin Domain context
- Admin Domain interactions with other Fabric OS features
- Admin Domains, zones, and zone databases
- Admin Domains and LSAN zones
- Configuration upload and download in an AD context
- Administering Licensing
- Monitoring Fabric Performance
- In this chapter
- Advanced Performance Monitoring overview
- End-to-end performance monitoring
- Frame monitoring
- ISL performance monitoring
- Top Talker monitors
- Adding a Top Talker monitor on an F_Port
- Adding Top Talker monitors on all switches in the fabric (fabric mode)
- Displaying the top n bandwidth-using flows on an F_Port
- Displaying top talking flows for a given domain ID (fabric mode)
- Deleting a Top Talker monitor on an F_Port
- Deleting the fabric mode Top Talker monitors
- Limitations of Top Talker monitors
- Trunk monitoring
- Displaying end-to-end and ISL monitor counters
- Clearing end-to-end and ISL monitor counters
- Saving and restoring monitor configurations
- Performance data collection
- Optimizing Fabric Behavior
- In this chapter
- Adaptive Networking overview
- Ingress Rate Limiting
- QoS: SID/DID traffic prioritization
- QoS zones
- QoS on E_Ports
- QoS over FC routers
- Virtual Fabric considerations for traffic prioritization
- High availability considerations for traffic prioritization
- Supported configurations for traffic prioritization
- Upgrade considerations for traffic prioritization
- Limitations and restrictions for traffic prioritization
- Setting traffic prioritization
- Setting traffic prioritization over FC routers
- Disabling QoS
- Bottleneck detection
- Supported configurations for bottleneck detection
- How bottlenecks are reported
- Limitations of bottleneck detection
- High availability considerations for bottleneck detection
- Upgrade and downgrade considerations for bottleneck detection
- Trunking considerations for bottleneck detection
- Virtual Fabrics considerations for bottleneck detection
- Access Gateway considerations for bottleneck detection
- Enabling bottleneck detection on a switch
- Excluding a port from bottleneck detection
- Displaying bottleneck detection configuration details
- Changing bottleneck alert parameters
- Displaying bottleneck statistics
- Disabling bottleneck detection on a switch
- Managing Trunking Connections
- Managing Long Distance Fabrics
- In this chapter
- Long distance fabrics overview
- Extended Fabrics device limitations
- Long distance link modes
- Configuring an extended ISL
- Buffer credit management
- Buffer-to-Buffer flow control
- Optimal buffer credit allocation
- Fibre Channel gigabit values reference definition
- Allocating buffer credits based on full-size frames
- Allocating buffer credits based on average-size frames
- Allocating buffer credits for F_Ports
- Displaying the remaining buffers in a port group
- Buffer credits for each switch model
- Maximum configurable distances for Extended Fabrics
- Buffer credit recovery
- Using the FC-FC Routing Service
- In this chapter
- FC-FC routing service overview
- Integrated Routing
- Fibre Channel routing concepts
- Setting up the FC-FC routing service
- Backbone fabric IDs
- FCIP tunnel configuration
- Inter-fabric link configuration
- FC Router port cost configuration
- EX_Port frame trunking configuration
- LSAN zone configuration
- Use of Admin Domains with LSAN zones and FCR
- Zone definition and naming
- LSAN zones and fabric-to-fabric communications
- Controlling device communication with the LSAN
- Setting the maximum LSAN count
- Configuring backbone fabrics for interconnectivity
- HA and downgrade considerations for LSAN zones
- LSAN zone policies using LSAN tagging
- LSAN zone binding
- Proxy PID configuration
- Fabric parameter considerations
- Inter-fabric broadcast frames
- Resource monitoring
- FC-FC Routing and Virtual Fabrics
- Upgrade and downgrade considerations for FC-FC routing
- Displaying the range of output ports connected to xlate domains
- M-EOS Migration Path to Fabric OS
- Inband Management
- Port Indexing
- FIPS Support
- Hexadecimal
- Index

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Limitations and restrictions of Virtual Fabrics
10
Limitations and restrictions of Virtual Fabrics
The maximum number of logical switches per chassis varies depending on the switch model.
Table 47 lists the supported platforms and the maximum number of logical switches (including the
default logical switch) supported on each.
TABLE 46 Virtual Fabrics interaction with Fabric OS features
Fabric OS feature Virtual Fabrics interaction
Admin Domains Virtual Fabrics and Admin Domains are mutually exclusive and are not supported at the
same time on a switch. To use Admin Domains, you must first disable Virtual Fabrics; to
use Virtual Fabrics, you must first delete all Admin Domains.
See “Deleting all user-defined Admin Domains non-disruptively” on page 352 for
information on deleting Admin Domains without disrupting device-to-device
communication.
Configuration upload
and download
Virtual Fabrics uses a configuration file that is different from the configuration file used
to download system configuration parameters. See Chapter 8, “Maintaining the Switch
Configuration File,” for more information about how Virtual Fabrics affects the
configuration file.
Encryption Encryption functionality using the FS8-18 blade is available only on the default logical
switch.
FC-FC Routing Service All EX_Ports must reside in a base switch.
You cannot attach EX_Ports to a logical switch that has XISL use enabled. You must use
ISLs to connect the logical switches in an edge fabric.
Only 8-Gbps ports are allowed to be used as FC router EX_Ports, with the exception of
VEX_Ports on the FR4-18i blade.
See Chapter 21, “Using the FC-FC Routing Service,” for more information about Virtual
Fabrics and FC-FC routing.
FICON Up to two logical switches per chassis can run FICON Management Server (CUP), but the
FICON logical switch must use ISLs and not XISLs.
Interoperability mode In interoperability modes 2 and 3, you cannot use XISL in the logical fabric. The logical
switches must be connected only with ISLs.
Licensing Licenses are applicable for all logical switches in a chassis.
Performance
monitoring
Performance monitors are supported in a limited number of logical switches, depending
on the platform type. See Chapter 17, “Monitoring Fabric Performance,” for more
information about performance monitoring when Virtual Fabrics are enabled.
QoS QoS VCs are maintained across the base fabric. See Chapter 18, “Optimizing Fabric
Behavior,” for more information about using the Adaptive Networking features with
Virtual Fabrics.
Traffic Isolation Traffic Isolation zones with failover disabled are not supported in logical fabrics. See
Chapter 18, “Optimizing Fabric Behavior,” for additional information about using TI
Zones with Virtual Fabrics.
TABLE 47 Maximum number of logical switches per chassis
Platform Maximum number of logical switches
Brocade DCX 8
Brocade DCX-4S 8
Brocade 5300 4