HP StorageWorks Fabric OS 6.2 administrator guide (5697-0016, May 2009)

Fabric OS 6.2 administrator guide 367
17 Using the FC-FC routing service
FC-FC routing service overview
The FC-FC routing service provides Fibre Channel routing (FCR) between two or more fabrics without
merging those fabrics. A Fibre Channel router (FC router) is a switch running the FC-FC routing service. The
FC-FC routing service can be simultaneously used as an FC router and as a SAN extension over wide area
networks (WANs) using FCIP. FCR supports backbone-to-edge routing, allowing devices in the backbone
to communicate with devices on the edge fabric.
For example, using FCR you can share tape drives across multiple fabrics without the administrative
problems, such as change management, network management, scalability, reliability, availability, and
serviceability, that might result from merging the fabrics.
FCR also supports interoperability with some versions of M-EOS. For more information about M-EOS
interoperability support, see Appendix C, ”Mixed fabric configurations for non-merge SANs” on
page 541.
For information about migrating from an HP StorageWorks Multi-Protocol Router to a HP StorageWorks
400 Multi-Protocol Router, see Appendix C, ”Migrating from an MP Router to a 400 MP Router” on
page 543.
Supported platforms for Fibre Channel routing
Fibre Channel routing is supported on the following platforms:
• HP StorageWorks DC SAN Backbone Director and HP StorageWorks DC04 SAN Director Switch (HP
StorageWorks SAN Director 16 Port 8Gb FC blade, HP StorageWorks SAN Director 32 Port 8Gb FC
blade, HP StorageWorks SAN Director 48 Port 8Gb FC blade, or B-Series Multi-Protocol Router Blade)
• HP StorageWorks 8/40 SAN Switch
• HP StorageWorks 8/80 SAN Switch
• HP StorageWorks 400 Multi-Protocol Router
• HP StorageWorks 4/256 SAN Director, using chassis configuration option 5 (B-Series Multi-Protocol
Router Blade)
For the HP StorageWorks DC SAN Backbone Director and HP StorageWorks DC04 SAN Director Switch,
EX_Ports on 8-Gb/s port blades and EX_Ports on the B-Series Multi-Protocol Router Blade can exist in the
same chassis, but cannot be online at the same time; however, EX_Ports on 8-Gb/s port blades and
VEX_Ports can be online at the same time in the same chassis. EX_Ports are supported only on the B-Series
Multi-Protocol Router Blade and 8-Gb/s port blades. Ports on the 8-Gb/s core blade cannot be configured
as EX_Ports. The HP StorageWorks DC SAN Backbone Director and HP StorageWorks DC04 SAN Director
Switch have a limit of 128 EX_Ports for each chassis.
For the HP StorageWorks 4/256 SAN Director, EX_Ports are supported only on the B-Series Multi-Protocol
Router Blade and are not supported on 8-Gb/s port blades.
Fibre Channel routing on the HP StorageWorks 8/40 SAN Switch, HP StorageWorks 8/80 SAN Switch,
and on the 8-Gb/s port blades of the HP StorageWorks DC SAN Backbone Director and HP
StorageWorks DC04 SAN Director Switch require an Integrated Routing license. See ”Integrated Routing”
on page 368 for additional information about the Integrated Routing feature.
Supported configurations
In an edge fabric that contains a mix of administrative domain (AD)-capable switches and switches that
are not aware of AD, the FC router must be connected directly to an AD-capable switch. For more
information, see ”Use of administrative domains with LSAN zones and FCR” on page 386.
You can use SANtegrity to configure M-Series switches connecting to a B-Series router. For more
information, see Chapter 12, ”Interoperability for merged SANs” on page 291.
The supported configurations are:
• FC router connected to a B-Series nonsecured edge fabric