HP StorageWorks Fabric OS 5.0.3 Release Notes (AV-RVUUK-TE, March 2006)

5Fabric OS 5.0.3 release notes
Major features in Fabric OS 5.x
This section discusses the major new features incorporated in Fabric OS 5.x.
Enhanced RAS log messages
New with Fabric OS 5.x is a class of RAS log messages that records when zoning changes are
made through Advanced Web Tools or the command line interface (CLI) when AUDIT is enabled.
Note that occasional redundant entries are possible due to an extra HTTP entry when zoning
changes are performed through the CLI.
Scalability
Scaling the SAN is accomplished in two ways:
• Fabric scalability, which is the maximum number of ports and domains available fabric-wide
Single-switch capability
Single-switch scalability is the ability to handle up to 256 switch ports with some number of directly
attached Nx_Port types or the ability to operate effectively in a multiple-switch environment. The
parameters specified here describe the number and types of ports that can be directly attached to a
single-switch 4/256 SAN Director domain:
• Maximum 256 user ports active on a single domain
• Maximum 252 initiators attached to a 4/256 SAN Director (with the balance of the ports
connected to target ports, or ISLs)
• Maximum 14 switch ports connected to loops (for example, JBODs) of up to 24 devices (with the
balance of the switch ports connected to N-Ports)
The rate of N-port connections is metered to ensure that devices sensitive to timeouts (such as in
FICON environments) are not adversely affected. This mechanism delays N-port connections until all
members of the fabric become reachable (allows routing and fabric formation to proceed without
competition for CPU from N-port related service loads). When all these conditions are met, all ports
that have been disabled for this reason are re-enabled.
Fabric scalability
Fabric scalability is the maximum number of ports and domains available fabric-wide. Fabric OS
5.x supports the same fabric scalability as Fabric OS 4.4.0; that is, 2,650 ports with 50 domains.
Problem Determination
Fabric OS 5.x features the FcPing command, which provides the ability to check Fibre Channel
connectivity between any two nodes in a fabric.
Security-related enhancement
A new role-based control function, the switch administrator, allows an administrator to control a
switch, but not to modify any fabric-wide configuration (security, zoning, or user configuration); see
the userConfig command in the
HP StorageWorks Fabric OS 5.x command reference guide .