Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Switch CLI Software Configuration Guide, NX-OS 4.0(1a)N1 (OL-16597-01, January 2009)

Send feedback to [e-mail]
34-2
Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Switch CLI Software Configuration Guide
OL-16597-01
Chapter 34 Configuring N Port Virtualization
Information About NPV
The edge switch appears as a Fibre Channel host to the core switch and as a regular Fibre Channel switch
to its connected devices.
Figure 34-1 shows an interface-level view of an NPV configuration.
Figure 34-1 NPV Interface Configuration
NPV Mode
In NPV mode, the edge switch relays all traffic to the core switch, which provides the Fibre Channel
switching capabilities. The edge switch shares the domain ID of the core switch.
To convert a switch into NPV mode, you set the NPV feature to enabled. This configuration command
automatically triggers a switch reboot. You cannot configure NPV mode on a per-interface basis. NPV
mode applies to the entire switch.
In NPV mode, a subset of fabric mode CLI commands and functionality is supported. For example,
commands related to fabric login and name server registration are not required on the edge switch,
because these functions are provided in the core switch. To display the fabric login and name server
registration databases, you must enter the show flogi database and show fcns database commands on
the core switch.
Server Interfaces
Server interfaces are F ports on the edge switch that connect to the servers. A server interface may
support multiple end devices by enabling the N port identifier virtualization (NPIV) feature. NPIV
provides a means to assign multiple FC IDs to a single N port, which allows the server to assign unique
FC IDs to different applications.
Note To use NPIV, enable the NPIV feature and reinitialize the server interfaces that will support multiple
devices. For additional information about NPIV, see the “About N Port Identifier Virtualization” section
on page 32-14.
Server interfaces are automatically distributed among the NP uplinks to the core switch. All of the end
devices connected to a server interface are mapped to the same NP uplink.
In Cisco Nexus 5000 Series switches, server interfaces can be physical or virtual Fibre Channel
interfaces.
NPV Edge Switch
272668
Host
Host
NPV Core Switch
F Port
N Port
N Port
F Port
NP Port