HP StorageWorks Fabric OS 6.x administrator guide (5697-7344, March 2008)

Fabric OS 6.x administrator guide 497
1. On the FCR, enter the portcfgexport command to configure the preferred Domain ID.This preferred
Domain ID will become Insistent whenever Fabric Binding is enabled. If the port is not already set to
McDATA Fabric mode, this command may also be used to set it.
2. Enable the EX_Port configured in the previous step.
3. Use EFCM to create the Fabric Binding list and to enable Fabric Binding.
NOTE: The front port preferred Domain ID will behave as insistent while Fabric Binding is enabled. Fabric
Binding must be disabled prior to removing an EX_Port from a bound fabric to disable the Insistent Domain
ID behavior on that EX_Port. Failure to do this will result in Insistent Domain ID behavior of the EX_Port even
if it is subsequently connected to an edge fabric that is not using Fabric Binding.
Support for coordinated Hot Code Load
Fabric OS 6.0 supports non-disruptive Hot Code load (HCL) on all Fabric OS single-CP switches when
connected to a mixed fabric with McDATA switches running in either McDATA Fabric or McDATA Open
Fabric mode. Hot Code is only guaranteed if all switches in an Interop fabric support the new protocol.
This feature eliminates the need to automatically configure E_Ports with large number of BB_Credits in
mixed fabrics. This also removes the limit for the number of E_Ports that can be supported. All switches in
the fabric must run version M-ESO 9.6.2 to guarantee a non-disruptive code load sequence. Coordinated
Hot Code Load provides:
• Fabric-wide pause and resume
• No limitations on E_Port count or fabric membership
• Flood pause frame to all switches in the fabric before initiating a reboot
Fabric OS running on single CP switches takes approximately 60 seconds to restart as part of the code
upload process. During the time when the Fabric OS switch software is unavailable, with the uninterrupted
data traffic, M-EOS switches and directors in the same fabric send point-to-point frames (Hello, LSU) and
domain controller frames (GEPT) to the Fabric OS switch.
Fabric OS 6.0 notifies all switches in the fabric about a pending Hot Code activation (or HA-boot) so that
they can stop sending control frames to the specified switch until it restarts and sends a resume notification.
When a switch initiates a graceful shutdown sequence to prepare for Hot Code load, it can flood a
notification frame to all supported switches in the fabric.
Information added to the ESS indicates which switches support the new protocol. The receiving (remote)
switches responds to the notification by suppressing both Fabric Controller and Domain Controller frames
to the Hot Code switch. After the restart completes, the Hot Code switch must flood a resume traffic
notification message to all supported switches.
Supported configurations
All switches in the fabric must support the defined protocol. Non-disruptive Hot Code is supported on any
fabric configuration and mix of switches.
Hot Code load is supported on the following platforms:
• EOS-support for all M-EOS based Directors and switches
• All Fabric OS 6.0 supported platforms
HCL does not affect Director Class products because of their fast switch-over capability
Upgrade and downgrade considerations
Table 109 lists upgrade and downgrade considerations from either McDATA Fabric mode or Open mode.
It does not consider upgrades or downgrades from Brocade Native mode.